Knowing how to report crypto scam activity to the right agencies — IC3, FTC, CFTC, SEC, and local police — is the most important step fraud victims can take. Quick Answer: Report crypto fraud to the FBI’s IC3 (ic3.gov) and the FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov) first; add the CFTC if it involved a derivatives/futures platform, the SEC if it involved unregistered securities, and a local police report for a formal record — each agency plays a different role.
This guide covers everything about how to report crypto fraud so you can make informed decisions. If you’ve just realized you’ve been scammed, the most urgent first steps are covered in our guide on what to do immediately after being scammed in crypto. This article goes deeper on one of those steps: exactly where to file a report, what each agency actually does with it, and what to have ready before you start. For the fuller picture of recovery realities, legal options, and support resources, see our Consumer Protection Hub.
How to report crypto fraud: Why You Should Report to Multiple Agencies
No single agency “handles” crypto fraud the way a local department might handle a stolen car report. Each agency below has a different jurisdiction, a different role, and a different reason your report matters — even when your individual case isn’t independently investigated. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) alone received more than 1 million complaints in 2025, and cryptocurrency-related fraud was the single costliest category, with reported losses exceeding $11 billion. That scale exists because of aggregated reporting: your report becomes a data point that can connect to a larger, more actively investigated pattern, even if nobody calls you back about it directly.
FBI / IC3
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is the FBI’s central intake point for cybercrime, including cryptocurrency fraud. Reports filed with IC3 feed into the FBI’s broader investigative and pattern-detection work, including crypto-focused task forces run jointly with the Department of Justice. Filing is free and typically takes 15-20 minutes.
To file: go to ic3.gov and complete the complaint form. Before you start, have ready: transaction IDs or hashes, wallet addresses involved (yours and the scammer’s, if known), screenshots of every communication, the platform or app used, and the dates and dollar/crypto amounts involved. The more specific your report, the more useful it is for pattern-matching against other victims of the same operation.
FTC
The Federal Trade Commission tracks consumer fraud broadly, including crypto scams, and uses reports to identify trends, support enforcement actions, and issue public warnings. The FTC generally doesn’t resolve individual cases one-on-one, but its aggregated data plays a real role in shaping policy and triggering broader investigations into specific scam operations.
To file: go to reportfraud.ftc.gov and follow the prompts. This is a separate report from IC3 — filing one does not automatically file the other, so do both.
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has jurisdiction when a scam involved a commodity, futures, or derivatives angle — for example, a platform offering leveraged crypto trading, “futures” contracts, or commodity pool arrangements. The CFTC also maintains a RED List (Registration Deficient List) naming foreign entities that appear to be soliciting U.S. customers without proper registration, which is worth checking proactively before depositing funds anywhere, not just after something has already gone wrong.
To file a tip with the CFTC, use the complaint intake process at cftc.gov.
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission applies when a scam may have involved an unregistered securities offering. Many “investment platform” and high-yield crypto schemes fall into this category, even when they’re marketed using crypto-specific language rather than traditional investment terms like “shares” or “returns.”
To file a tip: use the SEC’s tips, complaints, and referrals system at sec.gov/tcr.
Local Police
Filing a local police report can feel pointless if you suspect — often correctly — that your local department doesn’t have deep crypto-fraud expertise. It’s still worth doing. A police report creates a formal, dated record that can matter for insurance claims, tax-loss documentation, civil litigation down the line, and as supporting evidence if a larger task force eventually picks up a related case. Bring the same documentation you gathered for IC3 and the FTC, and ask for a copy of the report number for your own records.
International Reporting
If you’re outside the United States, the same core principle applies: report to your national financial regulator and your national cybercrime unit — not just one or the other. In the United Kingdom, that means the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Action Fraud. Most other countries have an equivalent regulator-plus-cybercrime-unit pairing. A quick search for “[your country] financial regulator crypto fraud report” or “[your country] cybercrime reporting” is usually the fastest way to find the right two destinations.
Another Way to Document Your Case: File a Complaint With Us
Alongside the official channels above, you can also file a complaint directly with us using the File a Complaint form on our homepage. We want to be precise about what this is and isn’t: it is not a substitute for reporting to IC3, the FTC, or your local police — those are the only channels with actual investigative or enforcement authority, and you should file with them first, before anything else.
What our form is for: the details you share help inform our own research into the scam patterns, tactics, and recovery-company claims we investigate and write about on this site. Submissions are used internally for our own research purposes only — we do not sell or share the information you provide with any third party. If you’ve already reported to the agencies above and you’d like your experience to help shape the warnings and investigations we publish, filing with us afterward is a reasonable additional step. It should never be your first or only step.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I need to report to all of these agencies?
A: At minimum, report to IC3 and the FTC; add CFTC, SEC, or local police depending on the specifics of your case as described above.
Q: Will reporting guarantee I get my money back?
A: No — reporting is about documentation, pattern-detection, and enabling law enforcement action, not a guaranteed individual recovery mechanism.
Q: What information should I have ready before reporting?
A: Transaction IDs/hashes, wallet addresses involved, screenshots of all communications, the platform or app used, dates, and amounts.
Q: Is there a deadline to report crypto fraud?
A: Report as soon as possible — earlier reports are more useful for fund-tracing and pattern-detection, though agencies generally still accept reports after delays.
