The first scam took your money. The second wave is an industry that hunts people who already lost — "recovery agents," fake claim notices, and advance-fee fraud. This page is the pattern, so it doesn't get you.
The honest numbers
FBI and CFTC have both issued formal advisories on crypto recovery fraud. Real recovery rates for reported crypto fraud losses are in the single digits. Anyone promising a high success rate is lying to a desperate audience on purpose.
Filing a proof of claim with a court-appointed administrator is free. Any "agent" offering to file yours for a cut is a scam. Full stop.
Real claim registers are public court filings — scammers mine them. When the claims agent Kroll was breached in Aug 2023, phishing reached FTX, BlockFi, and Genesis claimants within days, citing real case numbers and real claim amounts.
Red flags — any one is enough
They contacted you first.Real lawyers, investigators, and police never cold-DM victims on Telegram, WhatsApp, X, Discord, or email. If they found you, it's the double-tap — victim lists circulate.
Upfront crypto, gift cards, or a wire to a person.Regulated firms invoice in fiat against a client account, or work on contingency. USDT, BTC, gift cards, or a wire to a personal account is your last money leaving.
Guaranteed recovery or a high success rate.No regulated professional can guarantee recovery — it depends on courts, jurisdictions, and whether funds still exist. A guarantee is a tell.
A dashboard showing "your traced funds".The balance on the screen is stagecraft. The next "unlock fee" is real — and there will always be another one.
A "tax" or "customs duty" to release funds.No legitimate process releases money in exchange for a payment to unlock it. This is the tail of the original fraud.
Urgency and secrecy."Act in 24 hours," "don't tell your bank/lawyer/family." Pressure exists to stop you doing exactly what this page says.
An offer to file your claim for a fee.Filing with the official administrator is free. So is submitting here. Anyone charging for the filing itself is skimming.
What legitimate recovery actually looks like
Court-appointed process.If an estate or trust exists (like Celsius or Terraform), claims go through the court-appointed administrator — free to file, deadlines published, never a fee to unlock a distribution.
Your bank, fast.If you wired money within the last 24–48 hours, call your bank now — wire recalls are real but expire fast.
Regulated counsel.Real lawyers bill in fiat with a written engagement letter, or take contingency. They wait for you to contact them.
Official reports.Report to FBI IC3 (ic3.gov), the FTC, your state AG, and your national cybercrime body. Reports are free and create the paper trail enforcement works from.
What this site does and doesn't do
We don't recover money and we don't promise outcomes. This registry preserves evidence, runs claimant-controlled intake, and maintains a claim register the community can verify and hand to counsel or a court-appointed process. Nobody from this project will ever DM you first, ask for crypto, or charge to file. If someone claiming to be us does — it's the scam described above.