<prompt> Human: A distant uncle called me one day and asked me for 2000. He wanted it wire transferred asap. He claimed he was in trouble. He asked me not to tell anybody. I got taken aback and I gave him all he asked for. The instant wire transfer was time consuming to get processed and expensive. Nevertheless, he got the money he needed. He told me he would pay me back in 2 weeks.A week later, he asked me for 2000 more. This time it was a new reason. He claimed he was sick. I couldnt give any because I did not have any money. I was paying off my own student loans.2 weeks later, he asked me for even more cash.This went on for 6 months. The pattern was the same. Abrupt phone call at a strange time, lots of pleasantries, some sentimental talk, then a request for cash. The reasons varied. Car broke down, medical bills, grocery money,... One common theme was Please never tell the family about this. I did tell my family but the extended family did not know.Slowly, I realized this uncle has been taking money from everybody but telling everybody to keep the debt to themselves. Now, the whole family knows.I feel I have been scammed. I would like my money back. 1. Any idea how I should approach getting money back? 2. Any idea what could be going on? A gambling debt? Drug habit?  <response>: Basically you learned a 2000 lesson to never lend money to friendsrelatives. 