Reporting your loss to the right authority does two things: it creates an official record that strengthens exchange cooperation requests, and it may trigger law enforcement action that opens additiona...

Why Reporting Matters for Recovery

Reporting your loss to the right authority does two things: it creates an official record that strengthens exchange cooperation requests, and it may trigger law enforcement action that opens additional recovery channels. Neither of these happens automatically — you need to file the right report with the right body. The reports listed below are the ones that have the most impact on practical recovery outcomes.

United States

Your primary report should go to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov — this is the main federal database for crypto fraud and is actively monitored by cybercrime units. Also file with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. For investment fraud specifically, report to the SEC at sec.gov/tcr. In large cases, the FBI may open an active investigation if the loss exceeds certain thresholds. Your local FBI field office can be contacted directly for significant cases.

United Kingdom

Report to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040 — this is the national reporting centre and generates a crime reference number. Also report to the FCA at fca.org.uk/consumers/report-scam if the fraud involved an investment product or unregistered firm. Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. In large cases, the National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU) may become involved.

Australia

Report to ReportCyber at cyber.gov.au — the Australian Federal Police's cybercrime reporting portal. Also report to ACCC Scamwatch at scamwatch.gov.au. For investment fraud, report to ASIC at asic.gov.au/report-misconduct. Filing with both ReportCyber and Scamwatch creates parallel records that are monitored by different agencies. Australian state police forces also accept crypto fraud reports at the state level.

Canada

Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or by phone at 1-888-495-8501 — this is the joint RCMP/OPP/Competition Bureau fraud reporting centre. Also file a report with your provincial police force (OPP in Ontario, SQ in Quebec, etc.). The CAFC compiles statistical data that may trigger federal investigation of patterns involving multiple victims.

Europe and Other Countries

In EU countries, report to your national cybercrime unit — Europol maintains a directory at europol.europa.eu. For financial fraud involving investment products, report to your national financial regulator (BaFin in Germany, AMF in France, AFM in the Netherlands). For all countries, the most important step alongside national reporting is preserving every piece of evidence — transaction IDs, communications, platform URLs, and wallet addresses — before filing any report.

Practical tip: file with every relevant authority, not just one. An IC3 report AND an FTC report AND a local police report creates multiple official records across different agencies — which strengthens exchange cooperation requests and increases the chance of triggering an active investigation.