Check an Ethereum address
An address starting with 0x exists on Ethereum and on many other networks that share its format. Paste it and we read Ethereum first, then show whether the same address holds funds on other networks. You get ETH and token balances, recent transfers in UTC, Tether and Circle blocklist status, and a check for fake look-alike tokens. Facts only, never a verdict.
- ETH, USDT, USDC and other tokens
- Tether and Circle freeze status
- Fake token check
- 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 Ethereum (ETH) 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 |
|---|---|
| Ethereum and other EVM networks | Starts with 0x, 42 characters. A normal wallet address is the same on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base and more, so funds may be on a different network from the one you expect (a smart-contract wallet may not exist at the same address elsewhere). |
How scammers use Ethereum (ETH)
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 token, NFT and airdrop scams ask you to connect a wallet or approve a transaction that drains it.
- Address poisoning plants a look-alike address in your history, hoping you copy it next time.
- Investment scams ask for USDT or USDC on Ethereum, then move funds through many addresses.
- Approvals you grant to a malicious contract can let it take tokens later without another prompt.
Can Ethereum (ETH) be frozen or recovered?
Depends on the token
ETH cannot be frozen on-chain. Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC can be blocklisted by their issuers in their own contracts, for law-enforcement requests and court orders (and, for Tether, its own sanctions policy), and only while the tokens are still in that address. A court order can in principle come from a victim's own lawsuit. Other tokens usually have no freeze function.
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).
- ETH balance and token balances, with the explorer used.
- Recent transfers in UTC and the addresses involved.
- Whether Tether, Circle and other issuers' contracts list the address as blocklisted.
- Whether a token with a stablecoin's name is the issuer's real contract.
- Whether the same address holds funds on other EVM networks.
- OFAC and law-enforcement list matches, and pattern flags such as address poisoning.
For investigators
- Always record the network. The same 0x address on two networks is two separate sets of records.
- Token approvals are a separate record from balances; a drained wallet may show the approval transaction that allowed it.
- Copy addresses from the explorer in full, never from a shortened display, because poisoned addresses match the first and last characters.
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: Etherscan (Ethereum), Blockscout (Ethereum).
Questions people ask
Is an Ethereum address the same as a BNB Chain or Polygon address?
The format is the same, so one 0x address can exist on all of them. What you hold on each network is separate. That is why we check the other networks too.
What is address poisoning?
A scammer sends a tiny transfer from an address that looks like one you use, hoping you copy it from your history next time and send money to it. Always check the whole address, not the first and last characters.
Can ETH sent to a scammer be reversed?
No. An Ethereum transaction cannot be reversed. Stablecoins in the scammer's address may be frozen by the issuer on a police or court request, if acted on fast.
I connected my wallet to a site and lost tokens. What now?
Move any remaining funds to a new wallet on a clean device, revoke token approvals using a trusted approvals tool, and report to the police with the transaction hashes.