How to Report a Crypto Scam: Who to Tell and What to Send

Where do I report a crypto scam in the US?

There's no single crypto police. Each agency handles a different piece, so most victims file in two or three places. That isn't wasted effort. The FBI and the FTC pool what they get with other law enforcement, and the companies that moved your money are the only ones who can act within hours.

Start at the top of this table and work down until the rows stop applying to you.

The volume tells you why the FBI's site comes first. The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report, released in April 2026, counted 1,008,597 complaints, and the 181,565 that involved cryptocurrency reported more than $11 billion in losses. The FBI says those figures likely understate the real damage, because they only count people who filed.

The order to do it in

Speed matters in the first day and barely at all after that. Money that already reached a scammer's private wallet rarely moves back. Money still sitting at an exchange, or a bank wire that hasn't settled, sometimes can be stopped. So the calls that can freeze something come first, and the paperwork comes second.

The bank call is there because it's the one place a quick report has a real track record. In 2025 the FBI's Recovery Asset Team, which works with banks on fraudulent transfers, froze about $679 million with a 58% success rate, according to the 2025 IC3 report. If you wired money to buy crypto for a scammer, or wired it straight to them, call the bank before anything else. The Justice Department's elder fraud hotline makes the same point: reporting some financial losses within the first two to three days improves the odds of getting money back.

What information do I need to report a crypto scam?

Build one evidence file, then copy from it into every form. The FBI's cryptocurrency guidance lists what it wants most: the crypto addresses, the amount and type of crypto, the date and time, and the transaction ID, also called the hash. It also asks how the scammer first contacted you and which exchanges you used.

1. Every payment you made. Open your exchange or wallet history and copy, for each one, the transaction ID, the address you sent to, the coin, the amount and the date and time. For a bitcoin ATM, keep the paper receipt and note the kiosk's location.
2. How it started. The first message, the profile, the phone number, the username, the dating or social app. Screenshot the profile before it disappears.
3. Every website and app. Check your browser history for each site you used, including lookalikes. California's financial regulator asks for the full list so it can work to shut them down.
4. The conversation. Screenshots of chats and emails, with dates visible. For emails, save the full message with headers (often called "show original").
5. A short timeline. Five or ten lines: when you met them, when you paid, when you realized. Investigators read hundreds of these. A clear one gets read properly.

Missing pieces aren't a reason to wait. The FBI says to put in a partial address if that's all you have, and to file even with no transaction details at all.

Make sure it's the real FBI site

Scammers know victims go looking for ic3.gov, so they build fakes. A September 2025 FBI warning said criminals were setting up lookalike IC3 domains with alternate spellings or different endings to collect victims' personal information. A July 2026 update described spoofed IC3 sites aimed at people who had already been scammed, some with a one-step form asking only for your name, phone number, email, scam type and how much you lost.

• Type www.ic3.gov into the address bar yourself. Don't click a search ad. The FBI says sponsored results are often paid imitators.
• Check the ending is .gov. Not .com, .org or anything else.
• The real IC3 never charges a fee and never asks for money to recover funds. It also has no social media presence and doesn't work cases through Facebook or Telegram.

Prefer to watch? How to report a crypto scam, in under a minute.

Read the video transcript

Here's how to report a crypto scam. Do it in this order. The FBI logged more than one hundred eighty thousand crypto complaints in 2025, with more than eleven billion dollars lost. Report fast, report fully. One: call your bank, and the exchange or bitcoin ATM company you paid through, today. They're the only ones who might freeze money still moving. Two: file at ic3.gov, the FBI's complaint site. Type it yourself, because the FBI warns there are fake versions built to rob victims twice. Three: report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Four: if it was an investment pitch, tell the SEC or your state securities regulator. For every payment, bring the transaction ID, the wallet address, the amount and the date. And anyone who calls offering to recover your money for a fee? That's the next scam. Did you know about the fake FBI sites? Comment below, and hit like and subscribe.

Does the FBI investigate crypto scams? What happens after you file

Set your expectations now, so the silence afterward doesn't feel like a door closing. The IC3's own FAQ says it doesn't conduct investigations and can't give you a status update. Analysts review complaints and pass them to the law enforcement or regulatory agencies that can act. You'll be contacted if someone needs more information. Because of volume, the FBI can't respond to every complaint.

The FTC works the same way. It says it can't resolve individual reports or give updates, but your report goes into its Consumer Sentinel database, which federal, state and local law enforcement use to build cases. If an FTC case later recovers money, the agency tries to contact the people who lost it.

So why bother? Because seizures get matched to victims through these reports. When investigators trace a wallet, the complaints that name it are how they find the people it robbed. Our guide on whether crypto scams can be traced shows where that money goes and the few places it can be stopped. A report also gives you a record you'll need later, for the bank, for the exchange, and for a possible tax claim; see whether crypto scam losses are tax deductible.

Can I report a scammer's wallet address?

Yes, and you should. Put every receiving address in your IC3 complaint. Then give the same addresses to the exchange or ATM operator you sent from, and ask them to flag the address and file their own report. If you know where the money landed, an exchange's fraud team is worth a message too.

If the scam used a stablecoin, the issuer can sometimes freeze tokens, but usually at law enforcement's request, not a victim's. Our guide to USDT scams explains how that works. Public community sites where people post scam addresses can warn others. They aren't law enforcement, and posting there doesn't replace a complaint.

Reporting a scam for a parent or someone else

You can help someone file, and for older relatives there's a dedicated line. The Justice Department's National Elder Fraud Hotline, 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311), serves adults 60 and older, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. A case manager stays with the caller and helps with the reports. They don't investigate and can't promise money back, but they take a lot of the confusion out of it. Our guide to protecting parents from crypto scams covers the conversation before it gets this far.

If the scam involved a bitcoin ATM, our guide to getting a bitcoin ATM scam refund covers the operator and state rules. For everything else, our Scams hub lists every guide, and the Is this a scam? quiz helps if you're still not sure.

How to report a crypto scam: FAQ

Where do I report a crypto scam in the US?

Start with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Tell the exchange, bank or ATM operator you paid through the same day. For investment scams, also report to the SEC, the CFTC or your state securities regulator.

Does the FBI investigate crypto scams?

Yes, but not every complaint. IC3 analysts review reports and refer them to the agencies that can act, and the FBI says it can't respond to each one because of volume. Reports are how investigators match seized money to victims, so file even if you never hear back.

Should I report to the FTC or IC3?

Both. The FBI's IC3 routes complaints to law enforcement, and the FTC's database is used by agencies across the country to build cases. It takes about the same evidence for each, so file one right after the other.

What information do I need to report a crypto scam?

The FBI asks for the crypto addresses, the amount and type of crypto, the date and time, and the transaction ID for each payment. Add how the scammer first contacted you, the exchanges you used, website addresses and screenshots. If you only have part of the information, file anyway.

Can I report a scammer's wallet address?

Yes. Include every receiving address in your IC3 complaint, and give them to the exchange or ATM operator you sent from so it can flag them. Stablecoin freezes usually happen at law enforcement's request, which is another reason to file.

Should I report a crypto scam to the IRS?

Only if the scammer pretended to be the IRS. Forward those emails or texts to phishing@irs.gov and report impersonation calls to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Other scams go to the FBI and FTC, though your reports can help if you later claim the loss on your taxes.