How Do I Recover My Stolen Cryptocurrency?
In the complex world of cryptocurrency, theft can be a major concern. To help you navigate this challenge, we’ve gathered six expert insights from CEOs and Financial Market Strategists. From alerting cryptocurrency exchanges to contacting action fraud and your provider, these professionals share their top strategies for recovering stolen cryptocurrency.
- Alert Cryptocurrency Exchanges
- Hire a Professional Crypto-Hunter
- Follow a Four-Step Recovery Process
- Collaborate With Cybersecurity Experts
- Engage a Blockchain-Forensics Firm
- Contact Action Fraud and Your Provider
Alert Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Describe to cryptocurrency exchanges what took place before, during, and after the theft. They may keep an eye out for any suspicious activity and put a halt to the theft of money if they do so. Help them with their investigations and provide them with all of the information they require.
As a consequence of this, it is vital to maintain vigilance, take preventative measures to preserve your assets, and report any suspicions or incidents to the appropriate authorities as quickly as possible. This is because it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recover from this incident.
Marom Anaky, CEO, COINSCIPHER
Hire a Professional Crypto-Hunter
Your best shot at retrieving your lost or stolen cryptocurrency might be to hire a professional known as a crypto-hunter. With the increasing incidents of lost cryptocurrencies, professional hunting services are getting popular.
These experts use substantial computational power and sophisticated algorithms to attempt to recover a forgotten seed phrase or password. The success of a professional crypto-hunting service often depends on how much of their seed phrase or password the user can recall.
The more information the owner remembers, the more likely the time required for recovery can be reduced. However, it’s important to note that crypto-hunting services usually charge a percentage of the recovered amount as their fee, meaning the lost amount must be significant enough to warrant the effort and time they invest.
Thomas Franklin, CEO and Co-Founder, Bitinvestor
Follow a Four-Step Recovery Process
In early 2015, someone scammed me for over $5,000 worth of Bitcoin. I asked countless people if they knew how to recover stolen Bitcoin, and someone on Reddit told me to go through this four-step process:
- Report the theft to the police.
- Contact the exchange or wallet provider and inform them about the theft. Most wallet providers have security measures in place to recover stolen cryptocurrency.
- Check the blockchain. If stolen cryptocurrency is transferred to another wallet, you can use a blockchain explorer to see where your stolen funds have gone.
- It’s also a good idea to hire a recovery service if you have the money. These firms specialize in recovering stolen funds and can be worth it if you’ve lost a significant amount of cryptocurrency.
After following this exact process, I was able to recover my $5,000 worth of Bitcoin within three weeks.
Scott Lieberman, Owner, Touchdown Money
Collaborate With Cybersecurity Experts
Collaborate with cybersecurity experts or firms with expertise in blockchain analysis. These specialists can trace the movement of funds and transactions through the blockchain to narrow down the search.
They can also attempt to examine the patterns of these transactions by tracking the stolen funds through multiple accounts and exchanges.
The information that the cybersecurity team is able to identify about certain entities or individuals involved could be crucial information to provide to the police in the investigation.
Peter Reagan, Financial Market Strategist, Birch Gold Group
Engage a Blockchain-Forensics Firm
When my crypto got swiped, I didn’t just sit back. I got in touch with a specialized blockchain forensics firm—these are the tech detectives of the crypto world.
They have tools to track where my digital coins headed after the theft. It’s not common knowledge, but these pros can follow the digital breadcrumbs that crypto leaves on the blockchain.
Sometimes, they can even help law enforcement catch the thieves if they try to cash out through a regulated exchange. It’s a modern twist on ‘follow the money’ and can be surprisingly effective.
Diego Cardini, Founder, The Drum Ninja
Contact Action Fraud and Your Provider
One day, your crypto account is looking stacked. It’s chock-full of quality investments that have only increased in value. You’re feeling good about where you are with your financial decisions, and your crypto wallet couldn’t get any thicker. The following day, you see that it’s drained, not a cent left, and there’s nothing more disheartening and nausea-inducing than that very feeling.
If this happens to you, you should immediately contact Action Fraud, as they will record the crime and give you a reference number. Then, change your login details and notify the provider, as they may be able to find some information surrounding who stole your crypto.
Unfortunately, with crypto being as new and non-tangible as it is, there’s really nothing else one can do to try to retrieve it. Even with tracking technology monitored by Bitcoin, finding a trace of one user in the anonymous sea of crypto users will be very challenging to do.
Jack Vivian, Chief Technology Officer, Increditools
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