Crypto Scam Victim Guide
Scammed or hacked?
Start here.
Losing crypto is disorienting, and the next few decisions matter. This guide explains — honestly — what blockchain forensics can and cannot do, the steps to take right now, and how to trace where your funds went. No hype, no false promises.
We trace and document. We do not recover funds.
WalletDNA is an on-chain analytics tool, not a law firm, a fund-recovery service, or a guarantee. We produce the documented trail your funds took so you can bring real evidence to your exchange and the authorities.
What blockchain forensics can — and cannot — do
Setting realistic expectations is the most important thing you can do right now. It keeps you focused on the actions that actually move your case forward.
What it can do
- ✓Trace where your funds moved — the ledger is public and permanent.
- ✓Show when funds reach a known exchange, where the recipient has provided KYC identity.
- ✓Flag mixers and sanctioned wallets along the path.
- ✓Reveal the most recent known location of the funds.
- ✓Watch the thief's wallet and alert you within the hour when funds move.
- ✓Compile your case into an evidence packet you can give to exchanges and law enforcement.
What it cannot do
- ✗Return or "recover" your funds — no tool can do that by itself.
- ✗Reverse a blockchain transaction — they are irreversible.
- ✗Force an exchange to freeze or refund — only the exchange or law enforcement can.
- ✗Reveal a private wallet owner's real-world identity with certainty — attribution is probabilistic; exchange off-ramps are the real lead.
- ✗Guarantee any outcome.
How recovery actually works
A blockchain transaction cannot be reversed. That is often reported as the end of the story, and it is not: crypto is recovered regularly, but it happens through institutions and courts rather than through the chain itself. Knowing the sequence tells you where your effort is worth spending.
- 01Trace the funds to something that holds themStolen crypto is only recoverable once it reaches a party who can be compelled to act: an exchange, a custodian, a payment processor, or a bank once the funds are converted to currency. Tracing is what identifies that party and dates the transfer.
- 02Identify who that party isRegulated exchanges know their customers. They cannot hand that identity to you, but they can provide it under legal process, which is why naming the exchange matters more than naming a wallet.
- 03Ask a court, through one of two routesCriminal: report to law enforcement, who can seek a seizure warrant and work with the exchange directly. Civil: your own lawyer can apply for a freezing order against the assets and a disclosure order naming the account holder. The two routes often run in parallel.
- 04A judge decidesExchanges and banks act on orders, not on requests. A judge weighing an application wants a documented chain from your loss to the account in question, which is what a forensic report is for.
- 05The institution freezes, then returnsOn a valid order the holder freezes the balance, and return follows through the court or the insolvency of whoever took it. This is where the money actually comes back, and it is the only place it does.
Where an investigator fits
Every step after the first one runs on evidence, and a crypto forensic investigator is the person who produces it: the traced path, the named exchange, the dates, and a report that holds up when the other side reads it. Many work alongside counsel on exactly this. WalletDNA is the tool that work is done with, and you can run the first trace yourself, free.
Speed and scale both matter. Funds keep moving, and the cost of a civil action can exceed a small loss, so for smaller amounts the law-enforcement route and a report to the receiving exchange are usually the realistic path. Procedure varies by jurisdiction, and none of this is legal advice.
Your first 24 hours
- 1.Stop all contact and payments. Do not send another "tax," "fee," or "deposit" to unlock a withdrawal — that is part of the scam.
- 2.Preserve evidence. Save wallet addresses, transaction hashes, screenshots, chat logs, and any platform URLs. Don't delete the app or messages.
- 3.If your wallet is compromised, secure it. Move any remaining assets to a brand-new wallet with a fresh seed phrase, and revoke token approvals.
- 4.Start a theft case. The guided flow at walletdna.com/report-theft documents what happened, traces where your crypto went, and watches the thief's wallet for movement. It is free.
- 5.Notify the receiving exchange if the trace shows funds landed there — contact its compliance or fraud team with the report and addresses. Speed matters.
- 6.File an official report. In the US, use the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov and your local police; elsewhere, your national cybercrime authority. Tell your bank if cards or fiat were involved.
- 7.Preserve everything. Transaction hashes, screenshots, and correspondence. They support the report now and any claim later.
Find the guide for your situation
Track a scam wallet →
You have the scammer's address or a transaction hash and want to trace where the money went.
Pig butchering / investment scam →
You were led to a fake trading or investment platform and deposited crypto that you now can't withdraw.
My wallet was hacked or drained →
Funds left your wallet without your intent — a drainer, phishing approval, or compromised seed phrase.
How to track stolen crypto (full guide) →
A step-by-step walkthrough of how fund-flow tracing works and how to use the results.
How to report a scam wallet →
Where to report a scam wallet — law enforcement, exchanges, and community databases — and how to file a report that helps warn others.
What tracing can and cannot do
No tool reverses a blockchain transaction. What a trace produces is evidence: a documented path, the exchange that received the funds, and the dates. That evidence is what law enforcement and an exchange's compliance team can act on, and it is the realistic route to any outcome.
Crypto scam victim — FAQ
Can I get my crypto back?
Be honest with yourself about this, because scammers exploit the hope. No tool — including WalletDNA — returns funds on its own, and a blockchain transaction cannot be reversed. Recovery is possible only when the funds reach a regulated exchange that holds the recipient's identity and law enforcement or that exchange acts on the evidence. Tracing is what gives you that evidence and dramatically improves the odds, but it is never a guarantee.
What can WalletDNA actually do for me?
It gives you a guided theft case. You describe what happened and paste the address your funds went to; WalletDNA traces where the money moved across 18 chains, shows you the destinations in plain language (a regulated exchange, a mixer, a sanctioned wallet), and puts the thief's wallet under hourly monitoring so you know within the hour if the funds move again. Everything is compiled into an evidence packet: your account of events, the theft transactions, and every trace, ready to hand to the exchange and law enforcement. Starting the case, tracing, and monitoring are free.
Is it too late to trace?
The blockchain ledger is public and permanent, so the trail does not disappear — you can trace funds moved months or years ago. That said, act fast: funds are easiest to freeze in the short window before they are cashed out, so the sooner you trace and notify the receiving exchange, the better.
Someone contacted me offering to recover my funds for a fee — is that real?
No tool can reverse a blockchain transaction, so a guarantee that funds will be returned is a claim nobody can honestly make. What tracing produces is evidence: the path the funds took, the exchange that received them, and the dates, which is what law enforcement and an exchange's compliance team act on.
What do I need to start a trace?
Either the wallet address you sent funds to, or the transaction hash (TXID) from when the funds left your wallet or exchange. Both are usually visible in your wallet's transaction history or your exchange's withdrawal record.
How much does it cost?
You can start tracing for free — no credit card required. Paid plans add higher volumes and additional features, with transparent pricing published on the site.
Trace your funds now — free
Paste a wallet address or transaction hash. Results in under 60 seconds across 18 chains. No credit card to start.
Start a theft case →A guided flow: document what happened, trace the funds, watch the thief's wallet.