Scams and Fraud Recovery
Crypto payments are hard to reverse, which is exactly why fraudsters ask for them. People who lose money in an investment scam, a romance scam or an impersonation call then face a second wave of contact from people who promise to get the coins back for a fee. This pillar is written for both moments: before you send anything, and after something has already gone wrong.
The guides lean on what government agencies have published, mainly the FTC, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and their counterparts in Canada and the United Kingdom. The red-flags checklist turns their warnings into questions you can run against any offer or message. The pig-butchering guide maps the long relationship-investment script stage by stage, and the registration guide shows how to look a platform up in the FinCEN, state, FCA, FINTRAC, CSA and ESMA databases and what a listing does not prove. The reporting guide lists the agency to contact in each country, the evidence worth gathering while it is still available, and what usually happens after a report is filed. The recovery-scam guide explains how fake recovery services, fake lawyers and people impersonating law enforcement target victims, and what genuine agencies never ask for.
We do not recommend or refer to any recovery firm, and none of these pages promises that lost funds can be returned. If you are in the middle of a conversation with someone asking you to send crypto, stop first and check later; nothing legitimate is harmed by a pause.
Where to start
Use the guide that fits where you are right now. If someone is pressing you to send crypto, open the red-flags checklist and stop the conversation until you have run through it. If money has already gone, start with the reporting guide: it lists the agency for your country, the transaction hashes and screenshots to save before they disappear, and what to tell the exchange that received the funds. Read the recovery-scam guide before you answer any message promising to get the money back, because those offers usually arrive within days of a loss and follow a predictable script.
Guides in this topic (6)
- CustodyCrypto Scam Red Flags: The FTC Checklist for Spotting a Fraud Before You SendThe FTC's three rules for crypto scams, a nine-flag red-flag checklist, the five documented scam families (investment managers, celebrity giveaways, romance, impersonators, blackmail), a ten-minute verification routine, and where to report.Reviewed 2026-10-21
- ScamsPig Butchering Scam: How Do You Spot Each Stage?The pig butchering script mapped stage by stage against FinCEN's red flags, the withdrawal-tax tell, 2025 FBI loss data by age, and what to do next.Reviewed 2026-10-22
- ScamsIs This Crypto Platform Registered? How to CheckStep-by-step lookups in FinCEN, NMLS, FCA, FINTRAC, CSA and ESMA registers, and what a crypto registration does and does not prove.Reviewed 2026-10-22
- SecurityHow to Report a Crypto Scam and What to SendWhere to report a crypto scam in the US, Canada and UK, the evidence agencies ask for, a worked report example, and what really happens after you file.Reviewed 2026-10-22
- SecurityCrypto Recovery Services: Legit or a Second Scam?Why most crypto recovery offers are a second scam: 2025 IC3 figures, the fee script, what IC3 and the FBI never ask, and the free official channels to use.Reviewed 2026-10-22
- ScamsBitcoin ATM Scams: Script, Losses and State Kiosk LawsHow bitcoin ATM scams run, what the FTC and IC3 counted, and a state table of kiosk limits, fee caps and refund rules checked against statute text.Reviewed 2026-10-23
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