A "recovery company" says it found your crypto but wants a fee first?
Someone contacts you out of nowhere, or you find them online. They say they've already located your stolen crypto, and they show you screenshots to prove it. All you need to do is pay a fee, a tax or "gas" to release it.
This is a scam, often run by the same criminals who took your money. Real recovery doesn't work this way. Frozen funds are released by the exchange, bank or court holding them, never by a third party after a "release fee".
How it differs from a real firm
A legitimate firm charges for its work under a written agreement signed before the work starts. It never asks for a fee to release money it has "found", and it never asks to be paid in crypto.
What to do now
- Stop sending money, even if you're told one more payment will release your funds.
- Don't send ID documents, your seed phrase or remote access to your device.
- Check the name against our warning list of fake recovery sites.
- Report it at ic3.gov, the FBI's fraud reporting site.
If you already paid them
That loss can be pursued too.
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.
Lost money to a scam? We trace where it went and work to get it back.
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