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Crypto guide

Sent crypto to a scammer? Do this in order

Minutes matter while money sits in a freezable stablecoin or at an exchange. These steps come from the Ministry's crypto investigation handbook. Nobody on this site can recover money, and anyone who offers to recover it for a fee is running a second scam.

  1. 1

    Is 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.

  2. 2

    Is 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.

  3. 3

    Did 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.

  4. 4

    In 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.

  5. 5

    Is 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.

  6. 6

    Is 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.

Five rules to remember

  1. Record the hard facts (chain, contract, transaction ID, block, UTC time, amount) before interpreting anything.
  2. Freeze in parallel with tracing. While funds sit in stablecoins or at an exchange, minutes matter.
  3. A blockchain shows movement, not identity. Grade every attribution.
  4. Never expose a seed phrase or private key.
  5. Every action needs a documented legal basis.

What next?

More crypto guides

This is information, not legal, financial or investment advice, and it does not recover money. Report crime to the police first.