How to get your money back from a fake crypto trading platform

You sent money to an online trading platform, often as USDT or Bitcoin bought on an app like Coinbase or Crypto.com. Your balance grew fast. Then you tried to withdraw, and suddenly there was a "tax", a "fee", a "verification deposit" or an "account upgrade" to pay first. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone, and there are real steps you can take.

What's really happening

The platform is fake. The balance on your screen is just a number the scammers control, and your deposits went straight to their own crypto wallets. Paying the withdrawal fee won't release anything. It's how they take more.

Can you get the money back?

Often there's a real path. Every crypto payment leaves a permanent record that can be followed, and scammers eventually move the money somewhere it can be frozen: a crypto exchange, or a digital dollar like USDT that its issuer can lock. Once the money is frozen, it can be returned to you.

What to do now

1. Stop sending money, even if you're told one more payment will release your funds.
2. Save everything: screenshots of the platform and your balance, its web address, the deposit addresses it gave you, and your messages with anyone who guided you.
3. Download your transaction history from the app you used to buy and send the crypto.
4. Tell that app's support team it was a scam.
5. Report it at ic3.gov, the FBI's fraud reporting site.
6. Get your funds traced quickly, while the money is still where it can be frozen.

How we help

We work to get your money back. We follow every deposit from the address the platform gave you to the exchanges and stablecoin companies holding the money, then push them to freeze it so it can be returned to you. Once you engage us, tracing takes 48 hours, and recovery efforts start within a week.

Watch out for the next scam

People who lose money on fake platforms are often contacted next by fake recovery services, sometimes run by the same criminals. Before you trust anyone, check them first.

• Fake crypto trading platforms: how we help
• Can stolen crypto be frozen? How freezes work
• How to choose a legitimate recovery firm
• Fake recovery sites we've found

Van Orton Recovery is an American fraud recovery intelligence firm. Every case starts with a free, confidential assessment of where your money went and what can be done, usually within hours. Contact us at hello@vanortonrecovery.com or use the link below to get started.