Lost money in a crypto investment app someone introduced you to? How to get it back

It usually starts with a friendly message: a wrong-number text, a dating app match or a contact on social media. Over weeks, a relationship builds. Then the person shows you how they make money trading crypto, and helps you start too. Your investment grows on the screen, so you put in more. When you try to take money out, you can't.

This is known as pig butchering, because the scammers spend weeks gaining trust before taking as much as they can. These are professional criminal operations, and they fool bankers, lawyers and engineers alike. The blame belongs to them, not to you.

Can you get the money back?

Often there's a real path. The crypto you sent left a permanent record that can be followed, and these operations move huge amounts through exchanges and digital dollars like USDT, where funds can be frozen. Once frozen, the money can be returned to you.

Signs the investment app is a scam

• You met the person online and have never met in person or on a live video call.
• They steered the conversation to investing and pointed you to a specific app or website.
• Your balance grew faster than any real investment would.
• Withdrawing requires a tax, fee or extra deposit first.

What to do now

1. Stop sending money, even if you're told one more payment will release your funds.
2. Don't warn the scammer yet. Keep the chats, but stop sending money.
3. Save the messages, the person's profiles and phone numbers, and the investment site's address.
4. Download your transaction history from the app you used to send the crypto.
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 payment you made to the exchanges and stablecoin companies holding the money, and 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.

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• How to choose a legitimate recovery firm

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.