Account Takeover, SIM Swap & Crypto Theft Lawyers
Your phone lost signal. Minutes later the exchange account was empty. Or a “bank support” call ended with your savings in someone else’s account.
We have arbitrated these disputes since 2019, as counsel in more than 130 arbitrations before AAA, JAMS and NAM, most against carriers, exchanges and banks.
The carrier, the exchange and the bank will each say it was your fault.
The terms of service put credential security on you. Deposit insurance does not cover theft. Business accounts have no statutory cap on loss.
But the records often show something else: a SIM change approved without proper verification, a password reset pushed through support, a wire released past the bank’s own red flags.
Those records are the case. We obtain them, read them and try the claim on them.
Account takeover is growing faster than any other fraud category.
FBI figures for 2025, and the event that changed every custody assumption in 2026.
The FBI’s account takeover alert describes criminals posing as bank support who already know the victim’s account details and talk them through a password reset. The victims are rarely careless. The caller simply knows too much. Sources: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report; FBI IC3, Account Takeover Fraud via Impersonation of Financial Institution Support; FBI Cyber Alert, October 31, 2026.
Freeze. Trace. Arbitrate.
Exchange and issuer freezes
Immediate freeze requests to exchanges and stablecoin issuers, with the tracing detail compliance teams need to act.
On-chain tracing
Blockchain analysis across chains, mixers and exchanges, formatted for freeze letters, subpoenas and court filings.
Carrier claims after SIM swaps
Arbitration against mobile carriers whose employees or systems moved a number without proper verification.
Exchange and custodian claims
Claims where a platform’s reset, support or authentication process, not the customer’s credentials, let the attacker in.
Bank account takeovers
Regulation E claims for personal accounts. UCC Article 4-A and negligence theories for business accounts and wires.
Custody and trust structures
Agreements with custodians and trustees that impose a written duty to safeguard against account takeover, backed by insurance.
How an account takeover claim is built.
Freeze what can be frozen. Then build the record that decides liability.
Lock and freeze
Accounts locked, carrier PIN set, freeze requests sent to receiving exchanges and issuers.
IC3 and law enforcement
Complaint filed with transaction hashes and account detail. Referral prepared where an agency may act.
Records
Carrier logs, exchange authentication records and bank fraud alerts requested, then subpoenaed if refused.
Attribution
Forensic review of devices and inboxes shows whether the entry point was the client’s or the provider’s.
Arbitration or litigation
Claim filed under AAA, JAMS or NAM rules, or in court where the agreement allows. Tried on the records.
Investigators and lawyers, under one roof.
Retired federal law enforcement.
Former federal investigators and analysts who spent their careers on cyber and financial crime. They handle the forensics, the tracing and the contact with current law enforcement.
Arbitrating cybercrime disputes since 2019.
Counsel in more than 130 arbitrations before AAA, JAMS and NAM, most arising from cybercrime and account takeovers. We try these cases on the evidence.
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 or exchange’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.
Stolen Crypto: How to Recover It, What Works and What Doesn’t
The legal sequence that follows a trace.
Read the articleCrypto Losses From SIM Swaps: Carrier Liability FAQ
What carriers owe, and how the claims are arbitrated.
Read the articleBank Account Asset Protection: Why Your Bank Is Not Your Fiduciary
What the law actually provides after an account takeover.
Read the articleFrequently asked.
It can be. Carriers hold customer data under federal rules and have their own verification procedures.
When records show the swap was approved without following them, the claim is strong. These cases are usually arbitrated.
The user agreement puts credential security on you. Liability shifts when the platform’s own reset or support process let the attacker in.
Authentication logs decide it, and we obtain them.
Sometimes, if it reaches a regulated exchange or is held in a stablecoin whose issuer can freeze it. Speed and tracing detail matter.
For personal accounts, Regulation E caps your loss on unauthorized transfers if you report promptly. Business accounts have no such cap.
Deposit insurance does not cover theft or fraud.
Carrier, exchange and bank agreements almost always require it. We have handled more than 130 arbitrations before AAA, JAMS and NAM, most of them cybercrime claims.
Filing with IC3 is essential, but IC3 does not investigate individual complaints or contact victims. Our investigators prepare referrals that an agency can act on.
Other areas of the practice.
Every page of the cybercrime practice, from the first hour of an incident to the final award. Back to the overview.
Account drained? Phone hijacked? Start the freeze now.
Confidential consultation. We will tell you what can be frozen, which records to demand and who should answer for the loss.