Exchange-collapse victims get targeted twice

The first event froze your balance. The second wave is an industry that hunts people who already lost — "recovery agents," fake claim portals, fake committee staff, and advance-fee fraud. This page is the pattern, so it doesn't get you.

The one rule that protects you

Never share your seed phrase, private key, exchange password, or 2FA codes — with anyone, ever. Not with "exchange support," not with a "claims agent," not with a "committee," not with us. A wind-down does not change this. No legitimate claims process, court, lawyer, or registry needs the keys to your wallet or the login to your account to count what you're owed. Anyone who asks is stealing what the exchange froze.

The honest numbers

FBI and CFTC have both issued formal advisories on crypto recovery fraud. Real recovery rates for reported crypto fraud losses are in the single digits. Anyone promising a high success rate is lying to a desperate audience on purpose.

Filing a proof of claim with a court-appointed administrator is free. Registering a claim here is free. Any "agent" offering to file yours for a cut is a scam. Full stop.

Real claim registers are public court filings — scammers mine them. When the claims agent Kroll was breached in Aug 2023, phishing reached FTX, BlockFi, and Genesis claimants within days, citing real case numbers and real claim amounts. Assume your name is on a target list.

Red flags — any one is enough

They contacted you first. Real lawyers, investigators, claims agents, and police never cold-DM victims on Telegram, WhatsApp, X, Discord, or email. If they found you, it's the double-tap — claimant lists circulate.

"Verify your wallet" or "link your account to claim." The single most common exchange-collapse lure. A claims process reads your balance from records — it never needs your seed phrase, password, or a "sync transaction." Any page asking is draining you, and it will look exactly like a real portal.

Upfront crypto, gift cards, or a wire to a person. Regulated firms invoice in fiat against a client account, or work on contingency. USDT, BTC, gift cards, or a wire to a personal account is your last money leaving.

A "tax," "customs duty," or "unlock fee" to release funds. No legitimate process releases money in exchange for a payment to unlock it. This is the tail of the original fraud.

Guaranteed recovery or a high success rate. No regulated professional can guarantee recovery — it depends on courts, jurisdictions, and whether funds still exist. A guarantee is a tell.

A dashboard showing "your traced funds." The balance on the screen is stagecraft. The next "unlock fee" is real — and there will always be another one.

Urgency and secrecy. "Act in 24 hours," "don't tell your bank/lawyer/family," "the window closes tonight." Pressure exists to stop you doing exactly what this page says.

A fake committee or "official claims portal." Wind-downs spawn convincing clones of real committees and law firms — sometimes with real names attached. Verify any claim process through independent channels (the firm's own published contact details, court records) — never through links sent to you.

Impersonated law enforcement. In this incident, a fake "@ic3support"-style handle appeared in the victim group. Real IC3, FBI, or police channels never DM claimants, never take "case details" in chat, and never ask for wallet addresses or documents through Telegram. File at ic3.gov directly.

"Insider" leakers selling documents. People posing as exchange employees offer "internal lists" or "proof" for a fee. Real whistleblowers do not sell to victims — they talk to counsel or the press, protected. A paid leak is manufactured evidence or a scam.

Claims-buying pressure. Desks legitimately buy claims — but "offer expires today" pricing exists to stop you valuing yours. An early offer prices in the buyer's margin; get the underlying claim value assessed before selling at a discount.

What legitimate recovery actually looks like

Court-appointed process. If a formal insolvency or restructuring proceeding opens, claims go through the court-appointed administrator or claims agent — free to file, deadlines published in court records, never a fee to unlock a distribution.

Your bank, fast. If you sent fiat to the exchange recently, talk to your bank about recalls and disputes — windows are short.

Regulated counsel. Real lawyers bill in fiat with a written engagement letter, or take contingency. They wait for you to contact them, and their engagement is verifiable through the firm's own published channels.

Official reports. Report to FBI IC3 (ic3.gov), the FTC, your state AG, and your national cybercrime/financial regulator. Reports are free and create the paper trail enforcement works from.

What this site does and doesn't do

We don't recover money and we don't promise outcomes. This registry preserves evidence, runs claimant-controlled sealed intake, and maintains a claim register the community can hand to a committee, counsel, or a court-appointed process. Nobody from this project will ever DM you first, ask for crypto, ask for your seed phrase or password, or charge to file. If someone claiming to be us does — it's the scam described above.