It started with an ad featuring a celebrity "investing in Bitcoin," a friendly match on a dating app, or a Telegram group full of screenshots of huge gains. At first everything checked out: a dashboard showing your balance going up, an attentive "account manager," maybe even a small withdrawal that actually arrived. Then, when you tried to take your money out, the fees, taxes and account freezes began. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone, and it isn't your fault. These schemes are run by professionals.
Let's get practical: what to do now, what evidence to save, where to report it and what you can realistically expect.
Quick answer
Stolen crypto can sometimes be recovered, but far from always. Stop sending money, even if they ask for "one last fee" to release your funds. Save the TXIDs, wallet addresses and every conversation. Alert the exchange you sent from and report it (IC3 and FTC in the US, Report Fraud in the UK). Blockchain transactions can usually be traced; recovery tends to happen only when funds land at an exchange that knows its customers and law enforcement acts.
In this article
The most common crypto scams
The names change, but the scripts repeat:
- Fake investment platforms. Professional-looking sites or apps, often promoted with fake celebrity endorsements or fake news articles. The balance you see doesn't exist.
- Romance scams and pig butchering. Someone builds a relationship with you over weeks, then "teaches" you to invest on their platform.
- Telegram or WhatsApp groups with trading signals, "mentors" and invented testimonials.
- Fake support or fake exchange staff. They contact you about a "problem" with your account and tell you to move funds to a "safe wallet."
- Phishing and wallet drainers. A fake site makes you sign a permission that empties your wallet.
- Paid-task scams. They pay you small amounts to "rate products," then demand crypto deposits to continue.
A quick check that often settles it: in the UK, crypto businesses offering certain services need to be registered with the FCA. Search the FCA register. In the US, search the company name plus "scam" or "complaints," as the FTC recommends, and be suspicious of anyone who insists you pay in crypto.
What to do in the first hours
- Don't send another cent. "Withdrawal fees," "taxes" or "verification deposits" are part of the scam.
- Don't delete anything. Not the app, the chats, or the "manager's" profile.
- Collect the details of every transfer: date, amount, coin, network (for example USDT on Tron or on Ethereum), sending address, receiving address and TXID (the transaction ID).
- Contact the exchange you bought from or sent from (Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, Crypto.com…) through its official support channel, with the TXIDs. Ask them to log it as fraud.
- If you also paid by card or bank transfer, call your bank now. See how to get money back after being scammed.
- Secure your accounts: change passwords, turn on two-factor authentication and, if you installed remote-access software (AnyDesk, TeamViewer), remove it and check the device.
- Report it. Details below.
Where to find the TXID
In your exchange's withdrawal history it usually shows as "TxID," "Hash" or "Transaction ID." If you sent from your own wallet, it's in the wallet's history. Copy the full receiving address too: a single changed character means a different wallet.
Can it be traced? What blockchain analysis does
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron and most blockchains are public. Every transaction is recorded permanently, which works in the victim's favor. Blockchain analysis follows the funds from your address onward: where they were split, whether they went through mixers or bridges, and above all whether they ended up at a centralized exchange.
That last point is key. A blockchain address has no name attached, but a regulated exchange knows who opened the account. If the trail reaches one, law enforcement or a court can ask for the account holder's details and sometimes freeze the balance.
Let's be realistic too. If the funds went through mixers, hopped across several networks or ended up at exchanges that don't cooperate, the chances of recovery drop sharply. A forensic report is useful precisely to tell you which scenario you're in before you spend more. We explain it in crypto scam lawyer or blockchain forensics expert?
Before paying anyone to trace it
Send us the TXIDs and addresses. Our cryptocurrency forensic experts will review your case for free and tell you whether there's a useful trail, or whether, honestly, it isn't worth spending more.
How to report a crypto scam
In the US: file a complaint with the FBI at IC3.gov and with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC shares reports with more than 2,000 law enforcement agencies, although it doesn't resolve individual cases. Also report to your local police if you need a report number for your bank.
In the UK: England, Wales and Northern Ireland use Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud in December 2025 (0300 123 2040). In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.
Bring a short timeline, the list of TXIDs and addresses, screenshots of the platform and chats, the website or app name, and any bank receipts. Our guide on how to report a scam walks through each step.
When a forensic expert or a lawyer helps
For small amounts and a single transfer, a well-documented report is usually enough. For larger sums, multiple transfers or funds that reached exchanges, it makes sense to bring in:
- A blockchain forensics expert to trace the funds and put it in a report that law enforcement or a court can use.
- A lawyer to use that report, for example to seek a court order against an exchange or to bring a civil claim where someone can be identified.
You don't always need both on day one. The sensible first step is an assessment of the trail.
Here's how that can look. Someone sends USDT from their exchange account to a "platform" over two months. A forensic analyst follows the TXIDs and finds that a large share, after several hops, was deposited at a well-known international exchange. That finding goes into the police report and, with a lawyer, into a request for the exchange to preserve the account and disclose who owns it. Does that guarantee the money comes back? No. But it turns a vague case into a specific one, which is what investigators need to act.
Mistakes that make things worse
We see these often, and almost all of them come from stress, not carelessness:
- Paying the "release fee." No real platform charges you a percentage upfront to withdraw your own balance.
- Deleting the app or chat out of embarrassment. Without that evidence, the report is weaker and tracing starts blind.
- Confronting the scammer or threatening them with the police. It only makes them move the funds faster.
- Handing over your private keys or seed phrase to someone "helping." No legitimate service will ever ask for them.
- Waiting to see if it sorts itself out. Every week, the funds spread a little further.
Fake recovery services: the second scam
It's almost certain that, after the scam, someone will offer to recover your crypto. They'll say they're "ethical hackers," an international law firm, or that they work with the FBI. They'll want an advance or a "release fee." That's the second scam, sometimes run by the same people. Learn to spot it in our guide to crypto recovery scams.
What we can do for you
At Kironic we handle crypto scam cases with a team of blockchain forensic experts, digital forensics specialists and lawyers. The first thing we do is look at the trail: whether the funds reached somewhere identifiable, what that opens up and what it doesn't. Send us the TXIDs, the wallets and a short summary. We'll review it for free and tell you what can be done, with no promises nobody can keep.
