How to Report Stolen Crypto: IC3, FTC, Police and Exchange
Where and how to report stolen crypto, in the order that actually works: the IC3 narrative that gets matched to other cases, the FTC complaint, the police report, and the exchange freeze request that can still recover funds.
The Report Nobody Writes Down Is the Case Nobody Opens.
What each agency does with your complaint — and what they need to be able to use it.
What this guide says in 5 lines
- Report in the order of the deadlines you are racing, not the order of importance: bank, exchange, then agencies.
- IC3 does not recover funds directly — it matches your case to others against the same addresses.
- The narrative field is where cases live or die. Include txids, addresses, amounts and dates.
- A police report creates a document some banks, insurers and lawyers require before they will act.
- File once, thoroughly, rather than repeatedly. Duplicate reports dilute rather than strengthen.
Reporting stolen crypto is not a single act. It is four separate filings to four different bodies, each of which does something different with what you send. Most victims file one, in the wrong order, with too little detail to be matched to anything. This guide walks through all four — what each one actually does, what it needs, and the specific detail that makes a complaint usable rather than filed and forgotten.
What each body actually does with your report
Managing expectations here is not pessimism, it is strategy. Knowing what each agency can do stops you from sending the wrong thing to the wrong place, which is the most common way a case loses value.
The freeze request is the only filing with a direct recovery mechanism. Everything else creates records, matches cases or supports other filings.
| Where | What it actually does | What it needs from you | Deadline pressure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your bank / card issuer | Can dispute or recall the payment that funded the crypto | Dated timeline and the transaction record | Shortest — act same day |
| Receiving exchange compliance | Can freeze funds still sitting in an account they control | Txid, address, dated trace and a written request | Days |
| IC3 (FBI) | Matches your report against others using the same addresses and clusters cases into investigations | Detailed narrative with addresses and txids | None, but earlier is better |
| FTC (ReportFraud) | Builds the consumer-protection record that drives platform takedowns and public warnings | Plain description, amounts, platform details | None |
| Local police | Creates an official report number that banks, insurers and lawyers often require | The same evidence bundle, printed | None, but paperwork takes time |
| State / national regulator | Acts against unlicensed platforms that targeted residents | Platform identity and the pattern of conduct | None |
The IC3 narrative: how to write it so it can be matched
IC3’s value is aggregation. A single report about one address is one data point; a report containing specific addresses is a data point that can be joined to hundreds of others, and that is how matters become investigations.
This means the way you write it matters enormously, and it has nothing to do with how much you suffered. Leave emotion in, briefly, but lead with identifiers.
- 01Open with one paragraph of plain facts: what happened, when it started, the total lost, the currencies involved.
- 02Then a dated timeline. One line per event, with the date first. Deposit, withdrawal request, refusal, further requests, total.
- 03Then the identifiers, in a clearly labelled block: every receiving address, every transaction hash, the chain for each, and the amounts.
- 04Then the platform: exact domain, registration details shown, any app store listing, and the names or aliases used by the people involved.
- 05Then contact history: emails, chat handles, phone numbers, and dates of each.
- 06Attach the trace file and the screenshots. Do not describe evidence you could have attached.
- 07Do not use words like "scam" as the whole explanation. Describe the mechanism — false profit dashboard, withdrawal fee demanded, account frozen after deposit.
The single highest-value thing you can put in an IC3 narrative is a correctly transcribed receiving address. Everything else is supporting detail.
What happens after you file
Understanding the pipeline prevents the two failure modes: filing repeatedly, and filing once and assuming it is now someone else’s problem.
Repeat filings do not strengthen a case. They create duplicate records that have to be reconciled, which costs time.
What each filing can realistically produce
Relative likelihood that a filing produces a measurable outcome, by filing type
Reading: The last row is not a criticism of the FTC — its function is regulatory and systemic, not individual. Filing is still worth doing; it just should not be the only thing you do.
The evidence bundle, assembled once
Build this once and you can send it to every destination above without rewriting anything. It takes about forty minutes and it is the difference between a report and a record.
Keep it as a single folder with a numbered index. Every institution you deal with will ask for the same six things.
- 01A one-page summary: what happened, total lost, key addresses, contact details.
- 02The dated timeline, one line per event.
- 03The identifier block: addresses, transaction hashes, chains, amounts.
- 04The trace output — the movement record, exported as a file rather than screenshots.
- 05Platform evidence: screenshots of the site, the dashboard, the withdrawal refusal, and the support conversation.
- 06The complaint documents: the formal complaint, the cover email, the police statement and the demand letter, generated from your own details.
Do not send original documents anywhere. Send copies, keep originals, and note the date you sent each copy to whom.
Mistakes that reduce a case’s value
Six errors account for most complaints that cannot be actioned. All are easy to avoid.
- 01Reporting weeks later because you were waiting for the platform to respond. The platform is the fraud; it will never respond.
- 02Describing the loss in prose with no addresses or hashes, which makes the report unmatchable.
- 03Filing the same facts five times to five agencies and counting that as progress. One thorough filing each is better.
- 04Paying a "recovery agent" before reporting, which adds a second loss and complicates the record.
- 05Using screenshots instead of copied address text — a screenshot of an address cannot be matched programmatically.
- 06Not asking for a reference number. Without one, follow-up has to start from the beginning every time.
Common questions
Generate the whole bundle from one form
The Report Builder produces the complaint, the cover email to your bank or exchange, a police statement, an IC3 narrative and a demand letter from details you enter once.
Primary sources and further reading
- FBI IC3 — File a Complaint www.ic3.gov
- FTC — Report Fraud reportfraud.ftc.gov
- FBI IC3 — Annual Internet Crime Report www.ic3.gov
External links open in a new tab and are provided so you can verify the underlying material yourself. TrueMoneyTalk is not affiliated with these organisations.
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Disclaimer: this guide is general information, not legal, financial or recovery advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from a licensed professional in your jurisdiction. Individual outcomes vary and are never guaranteed.