Where to Report a Crypto Scam

1. Why Reporting Matters

Many crypto scam victims do not file reports, either because they feel embarrassed, doubt that anything will happen, or do not know where to report. This underreporting is exactly what scammers count on. When nobody reports, there is no official record that a crime occurred, no data for investigators to cross-reference, and no statistical basis for regulators to allocate resources to the problem.

Law enforcement agencies use aggregated reports to connect individual victims to the same criminal operation. A single report of a $500 loss might not trigger an investigation, but when fifty victims report the same wallet address or website, the combined loss reaches a threshold that warrants a dedicated investigation. Your report could be the one that tips the balance.

2. Law Enforcement Agencies

United States: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

The FBI's IC3 (ic3.gov) is the primary US federal portal for reporting internet-enabled crime, including cryptocurrency fraud. File a detailed complaint including all transaction hashes, wallet addresses, communications, and the dollar value of your loss. IC3 feeds reports into the FBI's investigative pipeline and shares data with other federal, state, and international agencies. The IC3 also operates the Recovery Asset Team (RAT), which has successfully frozen funds in time-sensitive cases.

United States: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The FTC tracks fraud trends and uses consumer reports to bring enforcement actions against deceptive businesses. While the FTC does not resolve individual cases, your report contributes to their Consumer Sentinel Network, which over 2,800 law enforcement agencies access.

United Kingdom: Action Fraud

Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk) is the UK's national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, operated by the City of London Police. File your report online or by phone. Reports are assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), which identifies viable cases and assigns them to police forces for investigation. Include all evidence, especially blockchain transaction data and screenshots of the scam platform.

Europe: Europol and National Police

Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) coordinates cross-border cybercrime investigations. While you cannot file directly with Europol, reports to your national police are shared through the European information exchange framework. In Germany, file with your local Polizeidienststelle and the BKA. In France, use the PHAROS platform. In the Netherlands, file at politie.nl. Always file with your local police first, as this creates the official case record that Europol and other agencies reference.

Local Police

Regardless of which national or international bodies you report to, always file a report with your local police. This generates an official case number that you will need for insurance claims, exchange compliance requests, and legal proceedings. Bring a printed summary of the evidence, including transaction records and communications, to make it as easy as possible for officers to process the report accurately.

3. Financial Regulators

United States: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

If the scam involved an investment scheme, token sale, or any product marketed as a security, file a complaint with the SEC at sec.gov/tcr. The SEC has a dedicated Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit that pursues enforcement actions against fraudulent token offerings, unregistered exchanges, and investment scams. The SEC's whistleblower program can also provide financial awards for information leading to successful enforcement actions exceeding $1 million.

United Kingdom: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Report to the FCA at fca.org.uk/consumers/report-scam. The FCA maintains a Warning List of unauthorized firms and individuals, and your report may lead to the addition of the scam operation to this list, protecting future victims. The FCA also works with Action Fraud and the NFIB on fraud investigations involving financial products.

Other Regulators

In the United States, also consider reporting to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) if the scam involved futures or derivatives. In Australia, report to ASIC. In Canada, contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Each regulator maintains their own database and enforcement pipeline, so filing with all relevant authorities maximizes the chances of action.

4. Crypto Exchanges

Major cryptocurrency exchanges have compliance and investigations teams that can flag addresses, freeze accounts, and cooperate with law enforcement. Reporting directly to exchanges is critical because they are often the endpoint where stolen crypto is converted to fiat currency.

Binance

Binance operates a dedicated law enforcement request portal and a user-facing scam reporting form. Submit the scam wallet address, your transaction hashes, and any evidence that funds were deposited to a Binance address. Binance's compliance team can freeze accounts associated with reported addresses while they investigate.

Coinbase

Coinbase allows users to report suspicious activity through their support portal. If you sent funds to a scammer who uses Coinbase, or if traced funds ended up at a Coinbase-controlled address, submit a report with the relevant transaction details. Coinbase cooperates with law enforcement and has a history of freezing accounts linked to confirmed fraud.

Other Exchanges

Kraken, OKX, Bybit, and other major exchanges all have compliance teams. If blockchain tracing reveals that stolen funds moved to any exchange, contact that exchange's support with the transaction evidence and a copy of your police report. Having a police report reference number significantly strengthens your request and triggers regulatory obligations on the exchange's part.

5. Blockchain Analysis Companies

Blockchain analytics firms such as Chainalysis, Elliptic, and TRM Labs maintain databases of flagged addresses and work closely with law enforcement. While these are primarily business-to-business services, reporting scam addresses to them can result in the address being flagged across all exchanges and financial institutions that use their tools. Some, like Chainalysis, offer public reporting portals. When an address is flagged in these systems, any exchange attempting to process funds from that address receives an automatic alert.

6. Community Resources

Community-driven platforms play an important role in warning others and creating public records of scam activity. Report scam addresses on ChainAbuse (chainabuse.com), which maintains a public database of flagged cryptocurrency addresses that blockchain explorers and analytics tools reference. Post warnings on Reddit communities such as r/Bitcoin, r/CryptoCurrency, and r/Scams, where your experience can help others identify the same scheme. The BitcoinTalk forum's Scam Accusations section is another long-standing community resource where scams are documented and discussed.

When posting publicly, include specific details: the scam website domain, the Bitcoin addresses used, the methods the scammer employed, and any usernames or identities they used. Avoid sharing your own personal information. The goal is to create a searchable public record so that future potential victims who research the scam before sending money will find your warning.

7. Filing an Effective Report

The quality of your report directly affects how it is handled. Every report you file, regardless of the agency, should include the following: a clear, chronological narrative of what happened; all Bitcoin addresses and transaction hashes involved; the total amount lost in both cryptocurrency and fiat currency; screenshots and saved copies of the scam website, communications, and any documents the scammer provided; WHOIS records for the scam domain; and any other reports you have already filed, including reference numbers.

A ChainEvidence investigation report is designed to accompany these filings. It provides the blockchain analysis, fund flow diagrams, address risk scoring, and domain intelligence that investigators need, all in a professional format. Rather than submitting raw transaction data that investigators must interpret themselves, you provide a ready-made analytical report that accelerates their work.

8. Report to Multiple Channels

Do not limit yourself to a single report. File with your local police, the relevant national agency (IC3, Action Fraud, etc.), any applicable financial regulator, the exchange(s) involved, a community reporting platform like ChainAbuse, and at least one public forum. Each channel serves a different purpose: police create an official case record, regulators track patterns, exchanges can freeze funds, and community posts warn potential victims. The more places your report exists, the harder it becomes for the scammer to operate undetected.