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If you suspect a crypto investment scam, stop sending money, preserve your records, and report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). IC3 accepts reports even when no money was lost, but it does not accept evidence attachments or investigate cases itself. In the United States, you can also contact the SEC when the facts involve possible securities misconduct, an investment account, or a financial professional.
What to do first
- Stop payments and contact with the suspected scammer. Do not send more cryptocurrency, money for supposed taxes or withdrawal charges, or a fee to someone promising to recover your funds.
- Preserve what you have. Save transaction and payment records, messages, emails, website details, and account information before access disappears. Keep original files intact where possible and use separate copies to organize notes.
- Report the incident to IC3. Submit a complaint at ic3.gov, even if you have not yet lost money. The FBI encourages reports about cryptocurrency scams and asks for transaction details and identifiers connected with the scheme. FBI guidance on cryptocurrency investment fraud.
- Use other routes when appropriate. Contact the SEC about possible securities-related misconduct or an investment, account, or financial professional issue. For immediate danger call 911 or local police; contact local law enforcement directly about time-sensitive matters.
This guide covers U.S. federal reporting routes. State and local procedures may differ.
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What information should you gather for an IC3 complaint?
Prepare a concise timeline and include the details you know. Do not delay reporting just because you cannot find every item.
- Crypto transactions: asset type, amount, transaction hash, sending and receiving wallet addresses, date and time, and any available exchange or wallet records.
- Other payments: bank, wire, card, or cash records, along with recipient names or account details when relevant.
- People and services involved: names or aliases, phone numbers, email addresses, account handles, profile links, website domains, app names, and communication platforms.
- Timeline: when and how you met the person, investment instructions, deposits, displayed returns, withdrawal attempts, and requests for additional payments.
- Supporting records: original emails with full headers where available, texts and chat transcripts, screenshots, web pages, receipts, and relevant phone records.
- Later recovery approaches: who contacted you, what affiliation or result they claimed, what fee they requested, and how they can be identified.
These are useful details drawn from FBI and IC3 examples, not a claim that every field is required in every complaint. The FBI’s IC3 complaint FAQ also asks for information such as total loss, subject contact details, website and IP information when known, and a narrative of what happened.
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How to preserve evidence when IC3 does not accept uploads
IC3 is a complaint form, not an evidence-upload portal: it does not accept attachments. Enter relevant facts or text into the complaint where appropriate, but retain the underlying records securely in case an agency requests them. IC3 lists examples including crypto and wire receipts, canceled checks and card receipts, emails, web pages, hard-drive images, network logs, chat transcripts, and phone records. IC3’s FAQ explains both its attachment policy and evidence-retention guidance.
Keep source files intact where feasible. If you need to sort or annotate material, make a separate working copy rather than changing the only copy of a message, receipt, or file. A backup on separate storage is optional; you do not need to buy hardware or forensic software just to make a report.
What to save after filing an IC3 complaint
Before leaving the submission page, save or print your report and confirmation. IC3 says this is the complainant’s opportunity to retain a copy; it will not email or send an electronic copy afterward. Its instruction is: “Please save or print a copy of your report before closing this window or navigating away from this page.”
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IC3 analysts review complaints and may share information with law enforcement or partner agencies as appropriate. IC3 does not conduct investigations itself, cannot provide investigation status, and cannot cancel a complaint. Decisions about investigation and prosecution belong to the agencies that receive information.
If you need to add details later, submit a new IC3 complaint and explain that it supplements an earlier one. For immediate danger, call 911 or local police; for a time-sensitive issue, contact local law enforcement directly rather than relying on an IC3 status update.
When should you also report to the SEC?
The SEC is an additional route when the facts may involve securities misconduct, an investment or account complaint, or a financial professional. Its Crypto Points of Contact page directs tips, complaints, or referrals about possible misconduct or fraud to the Division of Enforcement. The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Assistance handles questions or complaints about investments, accounts, or financial professionals at 1-800-732-0330 or [email protected]. The page was last reviewed or updated July 15, 2026.
These routes are not interchangeable, and the SEC does not serve as a universal reporting office for every crypto scam. IC3 remains the direct federal cybercrime reporting route described here.
Can you get your crypto back? Avoid recovery scams
A report does not guarantee that funds will be recovered. Be wary of unsolicited businesses or individuals that promise to retrieve cryptocurrency, particularly if they demand an upfront fee or claim special law-enforcement or legal connections. The FBI warns that fraudulent recovery operations may take an initial payment, disappear, or demand more money after providing incomplete or inaccurate tracing. Private recovery companies cannot issue seizure orders; exchanges freeze accounts through their own internal processes or legal process. Victims may pursue civil litigation, but a private promise is not a guarantee of recovery. The FBI’s cryptocurrency investment fraud guidance also states that law enforcement does not charge victims to investigate.
Report recovery contacts as part of the incident, including their claimed affiliation, promises, requested fees, and contact details. Do not pay a supposed tax, release charge, or recovery fee to unlock funds based only on a platform’s or stranger’s promise.
How common is reported crypto investment fraud?
In its 2025 figures, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded 61,559 cryptocurrency investment-fraud complaints and $7.228 billion in reported losses. These are reports received by IC3, not a census of all incidents and not a prediction of whether an individual victim will recover money. FBI IC3 2025 Annual Report.
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