Crypto Fraud Lawyer: What to Do When Your Crypto Is Stolen

If your crypto was stolen, you are dealing with the fastest-growing loss category that the FBI tracks.

This article explains (i) what the FBI’s 2024 and 2025 numbers show; (ii) how the 4 most common thefts work; (iv) what recovery realistically looks like given individual facts/circumstances of your case; and (iv) when a crypto fraud lawyer should be involved.

What the FBI’s 2024 and 2025 numbers show

Crypto losses have been exploding.

In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 149,686 complaints referencing cryptocurrency with $9.3 billion in losses, a 66 percent increase in losses over 2023 ([2]).

In 2025, crypto complaints rose to 181,565 and losses to $11.366 billion, up 21 percent and 22 percent respectively(with 18,589 complainants each losing more than $100,000) ([1]).

Year	Complaints involving cryptocurrency	Reported losses	Cryptocurrency investment fraud losses
2024	149,686	$9.3 billion	$5.8 billion (41,557 complaints)
2025	181,565	$11.366 billion	$7.228 billion (61,559 complaints)

Source: FBI IC3, 2024 Internet Crime Report, pp. 35–36; 2025 Internet Crime Report, pp. 52–53.

Crypto investment fraud was “the highest source of financial losses to Americans in 2025 with $7.2 billion reported in losses” ([1]).

In both years, people aged 60+ reported the largest sharre of cryptocurrency losses ([1], [2]).

How crypto is stolen: four patterns

Exchange thefts. FBI assigned theft of apprx. $1.5 billion in crypto from the exchange Bybit on or about February 21, 2025, to North Korea.

Stolen assets were “dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains” within days ([3]).

Bridge exploits. FBI confirmed that the Lazarus Group was responsible for the $100 million theft from Harmony’s Horizon bridge in June 2022 ([4]). The FBI has also described criminals “exploiting a signature verification vulnerability” in a token bridge, causing approximately $320 million in losses ([5]).

SIM-swap attacks. FBI describes SIM swapping as a technique in which criminals “target mobile carriers to gain access to victims’ bank accounts, virtual currency accounts, and other sensitive information,” through social engineering, insider payoffs, or phishing ([6]). In 2021 alone, IC3 received 1,611 SIM-swap complaints with adjusted losses of more than $68 million ([6]).

Since November 2023, Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) rules require wireless providers to use secure methods of authenticating a customer before moving a number to a new device or carrier.

Furthertemore under the FCC rules, a carrier has to notify customers immediately of any SIM change or port-out request ([7]). Whether a carrier met those obligations is often the central question in a SIM-swap case.

Pig butchering. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) describes these schemes as long-term confidence scams in which victims are enticed to invest in fake platforms, shown fake profits, and then told to pay “purported taxes or early withdrawal fees” before the scammer disappears with everything ([8]). IC3 Unit reported that these scams are “largely perpetrated by organized criminal enterprises based in Southeast Asia” ([1]).

What recovery could looks like

Speed matter in crypto theft cases. The FBI’s Recovery Asset Team initiated 3,900 Financial Fraud Kill Chain incidents in 2025. Furthermore, the IC3 report shows that FBI helped freezing $679 million of the $1.16 billion in attempted theft (58% success rate) ([1]).

The FBI asks victims to file at ic3.gov “regardless of the amount lost” and to “include the full transaction details.” Because IC3 may be able to assist financial institutions and law enforcement in freezing funds ([1]). In the Harmony case, a portion of the stolen funds was frozen “in coordination with some of the virtual asset service providers” ([4]).

FBI is equally clear about the limits. Exchanges “only freeze accounts based on internal processes or in response to legal process,” private recovery companies “cannot issue seizure orders,” and victims “can also choose to pursue civil litigation to seek recovery of their funds” ([9]).

Beware recovery scams

Victims are targeted a second time. FBI warns that fraudulent recovery services “charge an up-front fee and either cease communication with the victim after receiving an initial deposit or produce an incomplete or inaccurate tracing report,” and that “Law enforcement does not charge victims a fee for investigating crimes” ([9]).

In August 2025, the FBI updated its warning about fictitious law firms that impersonate real lawyers.([10]). Verify any lawyer independently before sending documents or money.

When to involve a crypto fraud lawyer

Involve counsel as soon as the theft is discovered.

From that point, several things are happening at once: (i) IC3 complaint with complete transaction data; (ii) freeze requests to exchanges and banks; (iii) all evidence should be preserved; and (iv) case evaluation of claims against parties involved.

Depending on the facts/circumstances, those parties could include (i) crypto exchange (e.g., Coinbase, Crypto.com, Kraken, etc.) under its user agreement; (ii) wireless carrier; (iv) a bridge or protocol operator; (iv) the counterparty whose systems were compromised; or (v) stablecoin issuers (e.g., Circle or Tether) in cases where it’s appropriate to contact them to freeze stolen stablecoins and issue new ones to the victims through the court order.

Each claim has its own forum, deadlines, and proof requirements. None of the claims should be assumed to be available without full legal review.

Contact US

If your crypto has been stolen, contact Dilendorf Law Firm through our contact page, call +1 212 457 9797, or email info@dilendorf.com.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Dilendorf Law Firm. Attorney Advertising.