Check a Bitcoin address
Paste a Bitcoin address or a transaction ID. We read the public blockchain and show the balance, recent transactions in UTC, which addresses sent to it and received from it, and whether it appears on a sanctions or law-enforcement list. Bitcoin shows movement between addresses, not who owns them, so we report facts and never call an address a scam or safe.
- Address and transaction lookup
- Balance and activity in UTC
- OFAC and FBI list matches
- Free, no sign-up
I sent money to a scammer
Paste the address you sent to (your wallet or exchange shows it in the transaction details) or the transaction ID. You will see where the money is now, whether it can be frozen, and what to tell the police.
I am an investigator
Check addresses and transactions, trace a few hops forward or backward, and export a hop table, a report with a request manifest, and the freeze and disclosure letters from the handbook.
I have a message or a screenshot's text
Paste the whole chat, e-mail or statement. We list every wallet address and transaction ID in it with its position, flag any that fail their checksum (a typo), and you pick which to check.
The first hour: six questions, in order
- 1Is the money still sitting in an address you can see?
Note the balance and the time (UTC) and watch the address. Prepare freeze requests before you finish tracing. - 2Is any of it in a token its issuer controls (USDT, USDC, PYUSD, USDP, PAXG, XAUt, RLUSD, EURC)?
Send a freeze request to the issuer with the exact chain, token contract, address and your legal basis. Issuers can block a token even in a self-held wallet. - 3Did it reach a deposit address at a crypto exchange?
Send preservation, freeze and disclosure requests to that exchange through its law-enforcement channel. Not through customer support. - 4In India: is money still in the banking system?
Call 1930 and file at cybercrime.gov.in at once so banks can be alerted before the money moves on. - 5Is there a phone, a seed phrase, a hardware wallet or an exchange app within reach?
Follow the first-response rules: isolate, do not switch off, do not guess codes, and move assets only into a wallet the agency controls, under authority. - 6Is someone now contacting the victim as a 'recovery agent' or an 'official' asking for a fee?
Warn them. Real police and regulators never charge a fee to recover money, and 'recovery' contacts are a second scam.
How we grade what we tell you
- C1Confirmed. A fact recorded on-chain or in an official record: a transaction, a block, an issuer freeze event, a record produced under legal process.
- C2Strong. Several independent methods agree, for example common-input plus timing plus amount match, or two analytics tools plus exchange confirmation.
- C3Moderate. One reliable heuristic or one reputable label, such as a change-address guess alone.
- C4Lead. An unverified signal: a community report, a risk score, a pattern flag. Never present it as fact.
What a Bitcoin address looks like
Knowing the network matters: the same coin name can sit on different blockchains, and money sent on the wrong one may be lost.
| Network | How to recognise it |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin (SegWit / Taproot) | Starts with bc1. bc1q addresses are 42 or 62 characters; bc1p (Taproot) addresses are 62. Modern formats, lower fees. |
| Bitcoin (legacy and P2SH) | Starts with 1 (legacy) or 3 (P2SH, often wrapped SegWit), usually 34 characters (26 to 35 possible). Older formats, still common. |
How scammers use Bitcoin
Patterns seen in scam and fraud cases. A pattern describes how crimes are run, not any one address: busy, legitimate wallets can look similar.
- Fake investment platforms and sextortion demands ask for Bitcoin because victims can buy it at ATMs and apps.
- Payment is usually to a fresh address, then funds are consolidated and moved on, often through a cash-out service.
- Bitcoin ATM scams push victims to deposit cash into a scammer's address.
- Some demands quote an address that was never the scammer's; check the address you were given matches the one you sent to.
Can Bitcoin be frozen or recovered?
No, not on-chain
Nobody can freeze or reverse a Bitcoin transaction on the blockchain. Recovery depends on where the coins land next. If they reach a regulated exchange, that exchange can be asked, through the police or a court, to hold the account. If they sit in a wallet the scammer controls, there is no freeze. Act quickly, because coins that reach an exchange can leave within minutes.
Nobody on this site can recover money, and anyone who offers to recover it for a fee is running a second scam. Report to the police first; the investigator workspace prepares the request letters and evidence file an investigator needs.
What we check
Every result is a fact with a confidence grade, from C1 (confirmed on the chain) to C4 (a lead).
- Balance, number of transactions and the first and last activity, in UTC.
- Recent transactions with the addresses involved, and the explorer used.
- Matches against the OFAC sanctions list and addresses law enforcement has published.
- Pattern flags such as collection addresses and machine-paced transfers, shown as leads.
- A multi-hop trace of where value went, stopping at busy services and listing what it did not follow.
For investigators
- Bitcoin transactions can have many inputs and outputs. The change output usually goes back to the sender, so do not treat every output as a payment to a different person.
- A cash-out point such as an exchange deposit address is where legal process can reach a named customer.
- Record the transaction ID, UTC time and amount in satoshi as well as BTC.
We do not say who owns an address, and we do not call an address a scam or safe: a blockchain shows value moving, not identity. Confirm any figure you rely on on a second source before it goes in a complaint. Public explorers for this network: mempool.space (Bitcoin addresses and transactions), Blockstream Explorer (Bitcoin addresses and transactions).
Questions people ask
Can a Bitcoin payment to a scammer be reversed?
No. A confirmed Bitcoin transaction cannot be cancelled by anyone. What can sometimes help is a request to an exchange where the coins land, made by the police or a court. Report straight away with the transaction ID and the receiving address.
Can this show who owns a Bitcoin address?
No. A Bitcoin address is not tied to a name on the blockchain. Only an exchange's records, produced under legal process, can connect a deposit to a customer. We never label owners.
Someone demanded Bitcoin in a threatening message. What should I do?
Do not pay, and do not reply. Keep the message and the address, report to the police, and see our guidance for the type of demand you received. Checking the address here shows its activity, which can help the police but does not make the threat real.
What is the difference between an address and a transaction ID?
An address is where coins are sent to. A transaction ID is a 64-character code for one payment. Paste either one; the tool works out which it is.
Is it safe to paste my wallet recovery phrase here?
Never. Anyone who has your recovery phrase controls your coins. This tool does not need one and refuses anything that looks like one.