Deciphr Academy
Track 2 · Module 10 · Lesson 7 of 7 · 8 min read

What should a team record after a near-miss, and what do official sources say to do after a crypto theft?

Short answer

The FBI asks scam victims to report to IC3 straight away with as much transaction detail as they have, and encourages reports even when no money was lost.1,2 The FTC says to contact the exchange or crypto ATM operator at once, and to report to the FTC, while the FBI warns that anyone promising to recover your funds may be running another scam.3,1

After a near-miss or a theft1. Stopsend nothing more2. Write it downaddresses, amounts, times, hashes3. Reportto IC3, the FTC and the exchange4. Bewareanyone offering to recover itThe FBI asks for reports even when nothing was lost
Fig. 7. A summary of US agencies' guidance after a near-miss or a theft: stop, write down the details, report, and watch out for "recovery" offers.
This is a summary, not advice

This lesson summarises what US agencies say to do after a crypto scam or theft. It is general education, not legal or personal advice. The steps that apply to you depend on where you are, and official guidance changes.1,3

What happened on Tuesday

Report a near-miss too

The FBI encourages people to report to IC3 even if they lost no money.2 In one 2023 alert, it asked victims to include any links, social media accounts, crypto accounts or web domains used in the scam.4 So Maya files a short report with the fake website's address, the look-alike address and the stranger's profile.

If money had been lost

The FBI's guidance for crypto scam victims is to report to IC3 at once, or to a local FBI field office, with as much transaction information as possible.1 It says the most useful details are:1

Detail What it means
Crypto addresses The wallets the money went from and to1
Amount and type of crypto How much was sent, and which coin or token1
Date and time When each transfer happened1
Transaction ID (hash) The unique ID of each transfer1

If you are not sure a detail matters, the FBI says to include it. If you have no transaction details at all, it says to report anyway.1 It also asks where you first met the scammer, your messages with them, the websites or apps they told you to use, and which exchanges you used.1

The FTC adds two steps for crypto payments:3

  • Contact the exchange or crypto ATM operator at once. Tell them the payment was fraud, and ask them to reverse it and refund you.3
  • Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.3

The FTC also lists the CFTC, the SEC and IC3 as places to report crypto fraud.5 It warns that crypto payments lack the legal protections of credit and debit cards, so getting money back can be hard.3

If someone got into your accounts

  • Change any passwords you revealed, and every other account that used the same one. That is CISA's older guidance.6
  • Contact your bank if you think a financial account was compromised.6
  • If a scammer got access to your computer, the FTC says to update your security software, run a scan, change your passwords and turn on two-factor login.3

Beware "recovery" offers

Scam victims are targets for a second scam. The FBI warns that anyone claiming they can recover your funds may be running another scam.1 It says not to pay for services that claim they can recover lost funds.7 For 2025, the FBI received 10,516 complaints about recovery scams, with $1.4 billion in reported losses. It notes these may include losses from the earlier scam.8

Maya's checklist

Check What the sources say
Open key sites from bookmarks, never from links Type the address yourself, or search for it9
Never share the recovery phrase No real service or support agent will ask for it10
Read every signature before signing A permit can look like signing in11
Approve only what you need, and review approvals Approvals don't expire until revoked12,13
Pay from the saved supplier list Never treat history as the source of an address14
Compare every character of an address It should match exactly10
Ignore guaranteed returns and strangers' tips Only scammers guarantee profits5,7
Check audits, but don't rely on them Audits won't catch every bug15,16
If something goes wrong, write down the details and report it Report to IC3 with the transaction details1
Our viewA near-miss is cheap training. Write it down while it is fresh, fix what let it get so close, and share it with the team.
Sources
  1. FBI Guidance for Cryptocurrency Scam Victims (Alert I-082423-PSA). FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 24 August 2023.
  2. 2023 Cryptocurrency Fraud Report. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2024, covering 2023.
  3. What To Do if You Were Scammed. US Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice (read via the Internet Archive copy of 12 October 2026, as the live page refused automated access), June 2026.
  4. Criminals Pose as Non-Fungible Token (NFT) Developers to Target Internet Users with an Interest in NFT Acquisition (Alert I-080423-PSA). FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 4 August 2023.
  5. What To Know About Cryptocurrency and Scams. US Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice (read via the Internet Archive copy of 18 October 2026, as the live page refused automated access), May 2022.
  6. Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks. US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), blog (marked as archived content), 1 February 2021.
  7. The FBI Warns of a Spike in Cryptocurrency Investment Schemes (Alert I-031423-PSA). FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 14 March 2023.
  8. 2025 IC3 Annual Report (Internet Crime Report). FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2026, covering 2025.
  9. Recognize and Report Phishing. US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Secure Our World (marked as archived content), checked 22 October 2026.
  10. Ethereum security and scam prevention. ethereum.org, page updated 6 June 2026.
  11. What Are EIP2612 Permit Signatures?. Revoke.cash, Learn pages (the maker of an approval-checking tool), checked 22 October 2026.
  12. How to revoke smart contract access to your crypto funds. ethereum.org guides, page updated 6 June 2026.
  13. Criminals Steal Cryptocurrency through Play-to-Earn Games (Alert I-030923-PSA). FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 9 March 2023.
  14. What Is Address Poisoning?. Revoke.cash, Learn pages (the maker of an approval-checking tool), checked 22 October 2026.
  15. Cyber Criminals Increasingly Exploit Vulnerabilities in Decentralized Finance Platforms to Obtain Cryptocurrency, Causing Investors to Lose Money (Alert I-082922-PSA). FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 29 August 2022.
  16. Smart contract security. ethereum.org developer docs, page updated 7 October 2026.
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General education built from the publicly available sources listed above. Not financial, legal, tax or investment advice. Naming a company, project or regulator is not an endorsement either way. Last checked 2026-10-22. Terms and disclaimer.