criminal-law fraud cryptography law-enforcement
What can someone do when scammed in the crypto world? How to report the scam and recover your crypto?
<p>Do the police work against scammers and fraudster in the crypto world?</p>
<p>How can someone report to law enforcement a fraud in crypto space?</p>

<p><strong>How can someone report to law enforcement a fraud in crypto space?</strong></p>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/united-kingdom" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;united-kingdom&#39;" rel="tag">united-kingdom</a></p>
<p>The City of London Police have the national lead for fraud and, via <a href="https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime" rel="noreferrer">Action Fraud</a>, they adminster the online <a href="https://reporting.actionfraud.police.uk/login" rel="noreferrer">reporting tool</a> or one can make a report by...</p>
<blockquote>
<p>... calling 0300 123 2040 Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm. If you are calling from abroad please call +44 300 123 2040.</p>
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<p>Legally speaking, there is no such thing as &quot;crypto space&quot;. Everyone operates within their local legal system. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_of_FTX" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The recent scandal around FTX/Alameda</a> is a good example that shows that the &quot;crypto world&quot; can't just ignore the laws of the &quot;real world&quot;</p>
<p>Even though most legal systems do not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender, cryptographic tokens (fungible or not) can still be considered a property asset with a non-negligible monetary value. So when someone causes another person to lose a crypto-asset, then they can potentially be held liable for damages in a civil lawsuit.</p>
<p>And there is usually criminal liability, too. Using fraudulent methods to cheat someone out of their property is usually just as illegal as cheating someone out of legal tender. Further, if scammers use hacking to accomplish their goal, there are certain &quot;anti-hacking laws&quot; that criminalize unauthorized access and manipulation of computer systems. Those can also be employed against crypto scammers.</p>
<p>But one problem with crypto technology is that they are often designed in a way that attempts to anonymize participants. You can't take legal actions when you don't know against whom. However, crypto is often not as anonymous as people think it is. At some point a scammer will have to convert cryptocurrency into legal tender. At that moment they have to interact with the banking system, which links their identity on the distributed ledger to their real identity. And the public distributed ledger can serve as very strong evidence in court that certain transactions did indeed happen.</p>
<p>And then there is the problem that  law enforcement organizations around the world tend to be a bit behind the time and in many cases lack the know-how and resources to properly deal with cryptocurrency-related crime. So it is very well possible that when you report a cryptocurrency-related crime against you, that police and prosecutors don't really understand what you are trying to tell them or how to investigate the matter. So when it's not about too much money, they might drop the case because the effort to investigate is too high compared to the severity of the crime.</p>
