Why Reporting Matters

Reporting cryptocurrency fraud is crucial even if you believe recovery is unlikely. Reports help law enforcement identify patterns, build cases against serial offenders, freeze funds on exchanges, and prevent future victims. Many of the biggest crypto fraud prosecutions began with individual victim reports.

Where to Report in the United States

• FBI's IC3 (ic3.gov): The primary federal reporting portal for internet-related crime including crypto fraud
• SEC (sec.gov/tcr): For investment fraud involving securities, including many token sales
• FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov): For general consumer fraud complaints
• CFTC (cftc.gov/complaint): For fraud involving crypto derivatives and commodities
• State Attorney General: Your state AG's consumer protection division

International Reporting

• UK: Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk)
• Australia: Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au) and ASIC
• Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)
• Thailand: Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) for cyber crime complaints
• EU: National police cyber crime units; Europol for cross-border cases

What Information to Gather

Before filing reports, compile: all transaction hashes and wallet addresses, screenshots of communications, website URLs and archived pages, social media profiles of scammers, bank statements showing fiat transfers, any contracts or agreements, and timeline of events.

Reporting to Exchanges

If funds were sent to addresses on known exchanges (Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, etc.), report directly to the exchange's fraud department. Exchanges can freeze accounts associated with fraud, and some have dedicated law enforcement cooperation teams.

Civil Legal Action

In addition to criminal reports, victims can pursue civil lawsuits. Some law firms specialize in cryptocurrency fraud cases and work on contingency. Class action suits can be effective when many victims are affected by the same scam.

Protecting Others

Share your experience (while protecting sensitive personal information) on platforms like Reddit, BitcoinTalk, and crypto review sites. Public warnings help prevent others from falling victim to the same schemes. Sites dedicated to warning about specific scammers — documenting evidence from court records, victim accounts, and public sources — serve a vital role in investor protection.