Crypto scam lawyer: what a lawyer can, and can’t, do after crypto fraud.

Crypto fraud is now the largest category of internet-crime losses reported to the FBI: about $11.4 billion in 2025 across 181,565 complaints, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Behind those numbers are founders, retirees and first-time investors who did nothing more than trust the wrong message.

A crypto scam lawyer can’t undo a blockchain transaction. But the law offers real tools, especially when funds reach an exchange or another business that can be identified and ordered to act. Here is how to think about your options, and how to avoid being scammed twice.

The first 48 hours after a crypto scam

1. Stop sending money. Scammers often demand “fees,” “taxes” or “verification deposits” to release funds. Those payments are part of the scam.
2. Secure what’s left. Move remaining assets to a new wallet created on a clean device, change passwords, and turn on app-based two-factor authentication. If your seed phrase or private key was exposed, assume a sweeper bot may be watching the old wallet: don’t send funds into it to pay gas, because they can be taken the moment they arrive.
3. Preserve evidence. Save wallet addresses, transaction hashes, dates and amounts, screenshots, emails, chat logs and website addresses.
4. Report it. File with the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and contact any exchange that sent or received the funds.
5. Get advice early. If funds are sitting at an exchange, time can be the difference between a freeze and a withdrawal.

What a crypto scam attorney can do

• Assess whether recovery is realistic. Blockchain tracing shows where funds moved. Whether recovery is possible usually depends on whether they reached an identifiable custodian, such as a centralized exchange or a stablecoin issuer.
• Seek court orders. Courts can issue temporary restraining orders and injunctions to freeze assets, and can authorize subpoenas to exchanges to identify the people behind an account.
• Sue unknown defendants. A case can be brought against “John Doe” defendants identified by wallet address. In LCX AG v. John Doe Nos. 1-25 (2022), the New York State Supreme Court allowed a restraining order to be served through a token sent to the wallet holding stolen funds, and about 1.27 million USDC at that address was frozen.
• Navigate government compensation. When prosecutors forfeit scam proceeds, victims may be able to file remission petitions. In April 2026, for example, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan opened a remission process for OneCoin victims, funded by more than $40 million in forfeited assets.
• Pursue platform failures and disputes. When an exchange, lender or custodian fails or freezes accounts, counsel can pursue claims in bankruptcy, arbitration or court. See our crypto disputes and asset recovery practice.
• Work alongside law enforcement. A lawyer can organize evidence for investigators and coordinate civil steps with any criminal case.

What no lawyer can do

• Guarantee recovery. Funds that pass through mixers, cross-chain bridges or uncooperative offshore platforms may be beyond reach.
• Reverse a blockchain transaction or “hack back.”
• Promise results on a fixed timetable.

Anyone who promises these things is showing you a warning sign.

How to spot a fake crypto recovery firm or fake lawyer

Recovery scams target people who have already been victimized. The FBI counted 10,516 complaints involving impersonated government officials and recovery firms in 2025, with about $1.4 billion in losses, and in August 2025 it warned that fictitious law firms are targeting crypto scam victims. Red flags the FBI identified include:

• Unsolicited contact from a “law firm” or “recovery service,” especially one that already knows the details of your losses.
• Claims of partnerships with U.S. government agencies, or references to agencies that don’t exist.
• Requests for payment in cryptocurrency or gift cards, or to send money to a third-party “trading company.”
• Group chats with supposed attorneys and bank processors, and refusal to appear on video.

Verify any lawyer before you share anything. Confirm the lawyer’s admission through the state’s official records (in New York, the court system’s attorney search), use contact details from the firm’s own website, and be suspicious of any firm that contacted you first. If anyone claims to represent Crypto Law Hub, verify it at (347) 352-2257 or info@cryptolawhub.com.

How Crypto Law Hub helps crypto scam victims

Crypto Law Hub represents companies and individuals in crypto fraud, disputes and asset-recovery matters from our offices in New York City and Houston. We’ll tell you plainly what the evidence supports and what a realistic path looks like. The legal system has to work for everyone, including people who have been targeted by fraud.

Our outlook: recovery runs through regulated chokepoints

Our thesis: the paths to recovery are multiplying as the industry builds compliance into its infrastructure.

Stablecoin issuers now freeze criminal proceeds in cooperation with investigators; in a June 2025 action to forfeit $225.3 million in crypto, the Justice Department thanked Tether for its “proactive assistance.” Exchanges answer subpoenas, courts freeze addresses, and prosecutors return forfeited funds through remission. None of this guarantees recovery, but a fast, well-documented case has more avenues than it did a few years ago.

Losing money to fraud can feel isolating, and that silence is exactly what scammers count on. Knowing your options is the first step back to solid ground: act quickly, document everything, verify anyone who offers help, and choose counsel you can verify.

Frequently asked questions

Can a lawyer recover stolen crypto?

Sometimes. Recovery is most realistic when stolen funds reach an exchange or other custodian that can be ordered to freeze them, or when the government seizes the proceeds. No lawyer can guarantee recovery.

Should I pay a crypto recovery service?

Be extremely cautious. The FBI warns that fake recovery firms and fictitious law firms target crypto scam victims. A real lawyer is licensed and verifiable through official state court records, and will not ask you to pay in gift cards or send money to a third-party trading company.

Where do I report a crypto scam?

Report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Also notify any exchange involved, and your state securities regulator if the scheme involved an investment offer.

Do I need a crypto scam lawyer near me?

Court actions are filed in a particular jurisdiction, so it helps to work with lawyers admitted where a case would be brought. Crypto Law Hub’s attorneys are admitted in New York, Texas and Georgia, with offices in New York City and Houston, and work with local counsel elsewhere when required.

More alerts and red flags: Crypto Scam Watch · Crypto calendar invite scams

A crypto scam lawyer in New York

If you are in New York, you can meet us at 125 Park Avenue, Floor 25, in Midtown Manhattan, or by video from anywhere. We will review what happened, tell you whether a legal path exists and, if it does, explain the cost before any work begins. If someone claiming to be from Crypto Law Hub contacts you, call (347) 352-2257 to verify before you share anything.

Related: Can you get stolen crypto back? · Crypto fraud attorneys · Frozen exchange accounts

Crystal V. Venning, Esq.

Founder and Managing Partner, Crypto Law Hub. Admitted in New York, Texas and Georgia. Educated at Yale University and Columbia Law School (J.D.). She advises founders, funds and institutions on digital-asset law, from stablecoins and token offerings to disputes and cross-border launches.