Cybercrime & Account Takeover Arbitration Lawyers
A SIM swap, a password reset or a fake support call emptied your account. The carrier, exchange or bank says it was your fault. Their agreement says arbitrate.
We have arbitrated these claims since 2019. Counsel in more than 130 arbitrations before AAA, JAMS and NAM, most against carriers, exchanges and banks.
The provider holds the evidence. Arbitration is how you get it.
After an account takeover, the victim knows only the result. The carrier knows who changed the SIM. The exchange knows how the password was reset. The bank knows which alerts fired.
Those records decide liability. They are rarely shared voluntarily.
Arbitration under the provider’s own clause is the path to them. Document requests and subpoenas produce the logs. Forensic experts explain them. The claim is then tried on what the records show.
Account takeover is growing faster than any other fraud category.
FBI figures for 2025. These are the losses behind the arbitration demands.
The FBI’s account takeover alert describes criminals who already know the victim’s details and talk them through a reset. The customer agreement then sends the dispute to arbitration. Sources: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report; FBI IC3, Account Takeover Fraud via Impersonation of Financial Institution Support, 2025.
Carriers, exchanges, banks and platforms.
SIM swap and port-out claims
Arbitration against mobile carriers whose employees or systems moved a number without proper verification. Carrier logs and store records are the evidence.
Crypto exchange account takeovers
Claims where the platform’s reset, support or authentication process, not the customer’s credentials, let the attacker in. Exchange authentication records are requested first.
Bank account takeovers and wires
Regulation E for personal accounts. UCC Article 4-A security procedures for business accounts and wires. The bank’s alert and device records decide the case.
Payment app and platform claims
Peer-to-peer payment apps, brokerages and fintech accounts drained after a takeover, under the platform’s arbitration clause.
Forensic evidence
Retired federal investigators and authentication experts reconstruct the takeover from the provider’s logs and the client’s devices.
Freezes and tracing
Exchange and issuer freeze requests, blockchain tracing and bank recall requests, run alongside the arbitration.
How an account takeover arbitration is built.
Freeze what can be frozen. Then build the record that decides liability.
Lock and preserve
Accounts locked, carrier PIN set, freeze requests sent. Preservation demands go to the carrier, exchange or bank before logs expire.
Notice and demand
Most clauses require written notice and a negotiation period. We prepare the notice so it becomes the foundation of the demand.
Records
Authentication logs, device fingerprints, support transcripts and alert histories requested, then subpoenaed if refused.
Attribution
Forensic review shows whether the entry point was the client’s or the provider’s. That finding frames the claim.
Hearing and award
Tried under AAA, JAMS or NAM rules on the records. The award is confirmed in court if payment does not follow.
Counsel and experts, matched to the dispute.
Counsel in more than 130 arbitrations.
Before AAA, JAMS and NAM since 2019, for claimants and for respondents. We know each provider’s list procedures, fee schedules and deadlines, and the courts that compel, confirm and vacate.
Experts retained to fit the case.
Forensic accountants, damages analysts, cybersecurity and authentication specialists, payments professionals, construction engineers and compensation experts, prepared for hearing.
Phone dead? Account empty? Act in this order.
The attacker is still working while you read this.
- Call the carrier from another phone; demand the number back and a port-out PIN
- Lock every exchange and bank account; request holds on pending withdrawals
- File at ic3.gov with transaction hashes, addresses and times
- Freeze your credit with all three bureaus
- Preserve the compromised phone and email account as they are
- Reset or discard the affected phone
- Pay a “recovery service” that contacts you after the theft
- Accept the carrier’s, exchange’s or bank’s first explanation
- Give a recorded statement before the records are reviewed
- Wait for the FBI to call; IC3 does not contact complainants
From the firm’s writing.
SIM-Swap Arbitration Win Against T-Mobile (Jones v. T-Mobile)
What the award turned on, and what it means for other carrier claims.
Read the articleArbitrating Crypto Theft Claims Against Crypto Exchanges
How exchange arbitrations work and what the records must show.
Read the articleStep-by-Step Coinbase Arbitration FAQ Guide
Notice, filing, arbitrator selection and hearing, in order.
Read the articleFrequently asked.
It depends on what the carrier’s records show about how the swap was approved. Carriers have verification procedures. When an employee or system bypassed them, the claim is strong. The records come out in arbitration.
Exchange terms place the risk of loss on the customer. The claim turns on whether the platform’s own process, such as a support-assisted reset, let the attacker in. Authentication records answer that.
For personal accounts, Regulation E limits your liability for unauthorized transfers reported on time. For business accounts and wires, UCC Article 4-A asks whether the bank’s security procedure was commercially reasonable and followed in good faith.
Sometimes. Centralized exchanges and stablecoin issuers can freeze funds that reach them, if asked quickly with the right detail. Freezes run alongside the arbitration, not instead of it.
Because the agreement requires it. Courts generally enforce these clauses. Arbitration also moves faster than court and keeps the matter private.
IC3 collects complaints and refers them. It does not investigate individual cases or call complainants. Our investigators, who are retired federal agents, package the evidence so that an agency can act if it chooses to.
Other areas of the practice.
Every category we arbitrate, from consumer claims to complex commercial disputes. Back to the overview.
Account drained? Start the freeze and the record now.
Confidential consultation. We will tell you what can be frozen, which records to demand and who should answer for the loss.