The single biggest factor in recovering stolen crypto is how fast you act. Funds still sitting on or near an exchange can sometimes be frozen; the same funds a day later may be through a swap and gone. Here is what to do immediately.
Stop sending money
This is the hardest and most important step. No legitimate platform or “agent” needs a tax, liquidity, verification or “unlock” fee to release your own funds. Every additional payment is another loss, not a rescue.
Write everything down
Record dates, amounts, wallet addresses, transaction hashes (TXIDs), the platform URL, and every name, phone number and handle you dealt with. Screenshot the dashboard, the chats and the withdrawal refusals before they disappear.
Lock down your accounts
Freeze any affected exchange account, change passwords from a clean device, enable app-based two-factor authentication, and ask your mobile carrier to add a port-out PIN to stop SIM-swaps.
Report it officially
File with your national fraud body (IC3 in the US, Action Fraud in the UK, ReportCyber in Australia) and, if you paid by card or bank transfer, notify your bank the same day — card chargebacks and APP reimbursement both have tight windows.
Get the trail mapped before it disperses
A proper on-chain trace shows exactly where the money went and whether it reached an exchange that can be approached. The sooner this happens, the more leverage there is.
Do not hire the first “recovery” service that contacts you
After a scam you become a target for recovery scammers. Real recovery is investigative work with no guarantees, paid transparently — never an anonymous up-front wallet deposit.
Think you have been targeted? IntelliCtech traces stolen crypto on-chain and helps victims pursue recovery. Submit your case for a free review, browse our recovery case studies, or search the Blacklisted Brokers database.