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Crypto Law/Level IV · Holders' traps/4.2 Scams the law sees/Lesson 7

Reporting fraud and what happens next

Where to report a crypto scam in the US and the UK, what information matters most, and how reports feed freezes, prosecutions, restitution and the return of forfeited funds.

Education, not legal, tax or investment advice. Crypto law differs between countries and states and changes often. Check the current rules where you live with a qualified lawyer or tax adviser before you act.

The lean path

The cheapest, lowest-tax, simplest and most private route the law allows, best first. Each step names the rule it rests on and the condition that keeps it lawful.

  1. Report free and fast: ic3.gov (FBI), ReportFraud.ftc.gov (FTC), sec.gov/tcr or the CFTC for investment fraud, and in the UK Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040; file even without transaction details, then add them.
  2. If a bank transfer was involved, ask your bank to recall it immediately; the IC3 Recovery Asset Team froze about $679 million in 2025, and crypto that reached an exchange or freezable stablecoin may also be frozen.
  3. Victims in a federal prosecution get rights to confer, be heard and receive restitution at no cost (18 U.S.C. §3771; §3663A); the order is only as good as the assets found.
  4. Forfeited proceeds can be returned through a free remission petition (28 C.F.R. §9.8) with documented loss and no other compensation; anyone charging a fee to recover funds is likely running a second scam.

MaterialsThe FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov, and FBI alert I-082423-PSA on what to include in a crypto complaintReportFraud.ftc.gov, the Federal Trade Commission’s reporting site18 U.S.C. §3771, the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, and 28 C.F.R. §9.8 on remission for victimsA single folder holding your transaction IDs, addresses, screenshots and messages

Wonder

  1. Where should I report, and does it matter which agency I choose?
  2. Will anyone actually contact me, and is there any real chance of getting money back?
  3. What should I gather before I file a report?

Explore

  1. In the US, the main place to report internet-enabled fraud, including crypto scams, is the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov. The Federal Trade Commission takes consumer fraud reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and adds them to Consumer Sentinel, a database open to federal, state and local law enforcement. Suspected securities fraud can also be reported to the SEC through sec.gov/tcr, and commodity or forex fraud to the CFTC. A local police report is often needed by banks and insurers (lesson 9.2.7). In the UK, the FCA directs people who have lost money to a scam to Report Fraud, formerly Action Fraud, on 0300 123 2040.
  2. The FBI’s August 2023 guidance for crypto scam victims says the most important information is transaction details: the cryptocurrency addresses, the amount and type of crypto, the date and time, and the transaction ID, or hash. It also asks where and how you first met the scammer, your messages with them and any names, emails or phone numbers they used, which exchanges you used to send or receive funds, and the timeline. Its advice is not to wait, and to file even without transaction details. If you are unsure whether something is relevant, include it. Keeping everything in one place makes a later restitution or remission claim far easier.
  3. Expectations matter. Before filing, IC3 users accept terms stating that complaints are analysed and may be referred to federal, state, local or international agencies, that any contact or investigation is at the receiving agency’s discretion, and that ‘I will not be contacted by the IC3.’ Most reports never produce a personal call. They still count, because reports reveal patterns and support investigations. Operation Level Up uses IC3 data to warn people who are still sending money to scammers; since January 2024 it has notified more than 8,000 victims and estimates more than $500 million in losses avoided.
  4. Speed is what most often saves money. The IC3’s Recovery Asset Team runs a Financial Fraud Kill Chain process that asks banks to freeze fraudulent transfers; in 2025 it handled 3,900 incidents involving about $1.16 billion and froze about $679 million, a 58% success rate. Most of those were bank transfers, which is why the FBI tells victims to contact their bank at once and request a recall. Crypto sent from your own wallet cannot be recalled (lesson 1.1.6), but funds that reach an exchange or a stablecoin whose issuer can freeze tokens can sometimes be frozen if authorities act quickly (lesson 4.3.1).
  5. If someone is prosecuted in a US federal court, victims have legal rights. The Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. §3771, gives them rights including to confer with the government’s lawyer, to be heard at sentencing, to be informed in a timely manner of any plea bargain or deferred prosecution agreement, and to full and timely restitution as provided in law. The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, 18 U.S.C. §3663A, requires the court to order restitution for offences against property, including those committed by fraud or deceit, where an identifiable victim suffered a financial loss. An order is only as valuable as the assets that can be found to pay it.
  6. Money can also come back through forfeiture. When the government forfeits scam proceeds, victims may petition for remission under 28 C.F.R. §9.8. They must show a loss of a specific amount directly caused by the offence and supported by documents, that they did not knowingly take part in or benefit from it, that they have not been compensated, and that no other reasonable recourse is available. Legitimate agencies never charge victims for any of this; anyone who asks for a fee to recover your money is likely running the second scam described in lesson 4.2.5. A practical step: assemble your evidence folder before you file anything.

Key facts

  • The FBI’s guidance says the most important information in a crypto scam report is the addresses, amount and type of crypto, date and time, and transaction hash.
  • IC3 complaint terms state that contact or investigation is at the receiving agency’s discretion and that the complainant will not be contacted by the IC3.
  • In 2025 the IC3 Recovery Asset Team’s Financial Fraud Kill Chain handled 3,900 incidents and froze about $679 million.
  • Operation Level Up, launched in January 2024, had notified more than 8,000 victims of crypto investment fraud by the end of 2025.
  • The Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. §3771, gives federal crime victims the right to full and timely restitution as provided in law.
  • Under 28 C.F.R. §9.8, a victim seeking remission of forfeited property must show a documented pecuniary loss directly caused by the offence.

Exercise nine, six, three, one

9CollectList up to 9 pieces of evidence you would want if you ever had to report a scam, such as transaction hashes, wallet addresses, exchange statements, screenshots, messages, phone numbers and dates.
6ClusterSort them into 6 categories: blockchain transaction data, exchange or bank records, communications, identities and contact details used, timeline, and proof of your loss amount.
3DistillReduce the 6 categories to 3 items that would matter most for a freeze request, a criminal case and a remission claim respectively.
1CrystallizeWrite 1 sentence describing where you would keep records of your crypto transactions so that you could find them quickly in an emergency.

Fact check

Dates, figures and claims checked against the published sources listed below.

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