If you are a victim of crypto-related fraud located anywhere else in the world or have experienced a crime whilst not in your country of residence, there are a number of resources available to help you: National Cyber Fraud Reporting Services After you have reported your case to your local law enforcement agency, you may also wish to report your case to one of the following organisations: UNODC Interpol eConsumer ICPC If you are located in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, you can report your case to one of the following organisations: APNAC Council of Anti-Phishing Japan FinCrime Asia Crime Prevention Services If you have experienced a crypto-related crime whilst not in your country of residence, you will need to contact the local embassy, high commission or consulate as soon as possible. Victim Support and Victim Support Europe both provide free and confidential advice to international victims of crime in their jurisdictions and abroad, regardless of how long ago the offen...

  If you are a victim of crypto-related fraud located in the European Union, the Schengen Area or any of the territories included in the European Economic Area, there are a number of resources available to help you: National Cyber Fraud Reporting Services After you have reported your case to your local law enforcement agency, you may also wish to report your case to one of the following organisations: Europol European Anti-Fraud Office Council of Europe Crime Prevention Services Victim Support Europe is a free and confidential referral service available to victims of crime in Europe, regardless of how long ago the offence was committed or if it has already been reported to the police. Their network of victim support organisations provides region-specific legal, psychological and financial advice on your rights as a victim, the support available to you and whom to contact for further assistance. You can contact them by visiting their website or sending them an email. Crime Preventi...

  If you are a victim of crypto-related fraud located in the United States of America or any of its territories, there are a number of resources available to help you: National Cyber Fraud Reporting Services After you have reported your case to your local law enforcement agency, you may also wish to report your case to one of the following organisations: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Crime Prevention Services The National Centre for Victims of Crime runs the Victim Resource Connect Center - a weekday phone, chat and text-based referral helpline for victims of crime in the USA and its territories. The service provides emotional support, information and referrals in over 200 languages that have been uniquely tailored to the victim’s individual needs. Their VictimConnect Resource Map is a searchable list of popular nation...

  If you are a victim of crypto-related fraud located in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or any of The British Overseas Territories, there are a number of resources available to help you: National Cyber Fraud Reporting Services After you have reported your case to your local law enforcement agency, you may also wish to report your case to one of the following organisations: ActionFraud National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) National Crime Agency (NCA) National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) National Anti-Fraud Network (NAFN) National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) Fraud Prevention Services Cifas is the UK’s leading fraud prevention community. Their members from both the public and private sectors work hard to monitor and maintain the largest fraud detection database in the country. Using their website, you can submit a data subject access request to request a copy of any information that Cifas holds...

  A large part of protecting your cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other digital assets from being lost or stolen is understanding the common types of scams being used to take them. Phishing, vishing and smishing attacks are social engineering techniques that are often used by hackers who want access to the personal, financial or technical information that will allow them to steal your identity, your access or your digital assets. Phishing Phishing attacks are when hackers use email messages designed to trick you into clicking on a fraudulent link or confirming sensitive information, like your date of birth, seed words or wallet address. Hackers that use phishing attacks will often pose as trusted authority figures like police officers, government officials or even Asset Reality employees! They’ll often use urgent language and threats of negative consequences to force you to act quickly without thinking. Spear-fishing is a tailored method of phishing aimed at a speci...

  Avast Just like antivirus software, it’s important to do your own research before choosing a VPN to use with your own devices. If your privacy is particularly important to you, you may want a VPN that doesn’t track your browsing history or one that will protect your information against court orders as well as criminals. Many providers have a variety of introductory offers, free trials and additional features to entice people so make sure to read all of the small print carefully to avoid any potentially predatory agreements. Free software is usually free for a reason! For detailed comparisons, check out the best VPN services in 2022 from TechRadar or this guide to buying the best VPN from Which? Encrypt your Information You can easily protect your private information by using disposable encrypted email addresses when signing up for a new account. Many banks will even allow you to create a temporary virtual card for an additional layer of security when online shopping. These ...

  Report your lost or stolen cryptocurrencies, NFTs or other digital assets You will need to know your Transaction IDs to report your lost or stolen cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other digital assets. This ID is a unique reference number used to identify specific transactions on the blockchain, acting as a receipt for the purchase. Since it doesn’t contain any personally identifiable information like your name, address or your private seed words, it can be safely shared with anyone - though we’d still recommend that you keep it to yourself as much as possible. If you want to find the ID for a specific fraudulent transaction, make a note of the date and time the payment was made; how much crypto was sent and any wallet addresses involved. Custodial Wallets A custodial wallet means the provider owns your private key and holds your assets in custody for you. If your transaction was made from a custodial wallet like Coinbase, Kraken or Bitpanda, the transaction I...

Report your lost or stolen cryptocurrencies, NFTs or other digital assets If you want to formally pursue the recovery of your lost or stolen cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other digital assets, typically you will need to: (Optional) Collect Court-Approved Evidence  Engage Local Law Enforcement  In the absence of Law Enforcement, your only other option is to engage an experienced Crypto Crime Lawyer in your country of residence 1. (Optional) Collect Court-Approved Evidence: There are usually two steps involved with gathering court-approved evidence when pursuing the recovery of your funds.  The first step is a simple Summary Analysis that is conducted to determine where your funds went after they were lost or stolen. Fraudulent funds typically end up in one of three scenarios: • Scenario 1: a wallet we can identify - in which case Law Enforcement and/or a Lawyer can be engaged to support recovery  • Scenario 2: An anonymous wallet - in which case ...

  Report your lost or stolen cryptocurrencies, NFTs or other digital assets  Once your wallet has been exposed to hackers, it is no longer a safe place to store your cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other digital assets. It is an easy target for criminals. You will need to fix the holes in your wallet security as soon as possible if you want to keep investing your money into crypto assets without losing even more. Disconnect Any Trusted Apps Your wallet may have been compromised after being connected to a malicious website. You can check your account’s connections by: • Go to your account ‘ Settings ’ menu • Select the ‘ Trusted Apps ’ section • Manually revoke access to any suspicious connections You can also check your accounts connections by searching for your wallet address on the following sites: Etherscan BSCscan Uninstall the Extension You’ll need to remove your wallet’s extension and app from all of your devices to make sure the software isn’t in...

  After the island of Jamaica became one of the first countries in the world to issue cryptocurrency tokens as legal tender, Asset Reality was appointed as the country’s asset manager by the Jamaican authorities. The island’s law enforcement agencies are also one of the first international jurisdictions to use our new Asset Recovery Management System (ARMS) Platform. Our SaaS-based ARMS platform has allowed Jamaican police officers, public prosecutors and investigating judges to track and audit their portfolio of seized assets alongside the wide variety of resolution tools needed to investigate crypto-related crimes on the island. Thanks to this appointment, several members of the Asset Reality team were invited back to the island of Jamaica for a conference organised by the Financial Investigations Division, Ministry of Finance and the Public Service. The two-day event at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel focused on widening the use of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) through collaboratio...

  Asset Reality is delighted to announce a new partnership with Metamask, the world’s largest digital wallet provider. This partnership represents an industry-first approach to improving digital asset recovery around the world. Metamask is a non-custodial software that run’s on the user’s device, similar to a web browser. In January, they exceeded over 30 million monthly active users, making them the most popular Web3 wallet and browser globally. Just like a physical wallet in somebody’s back pocket, Metamask doesn’t have any access to users’ funds so the most important member of the security team is the user themselves.  Over the last few years, economic activity on web3 has grown exponentially. While this growth has attracted a number of highly innovative applications that will help redefine the future of financial services and the creator economy, it has also drawn the attention of online scammers and thieves. Due to the high number of users on the platform, Metamask is a c...

Asset Reality is proud to announce a new collaboration designed to help victims of crypto-related fraud overcome the unnecessary barriers they face within the justice system. Together with Grant Thornton UK LLP, Outer Temple Chambers, Rahman Ravelli and Sandton Capital, we have established a triage system to assess claims at the outset. A team of experts trained in investigation techniques and corporate intelligence will then examine the claims for merit and further legal assessment.  Successful claims will be assessed and financed on a portfolio basis by Sandton Capital. They’ve dedicated £50m towards crypto-related litigation cases and their new portfolio facilities will allow them to finance multiple claims at once that would otherwise not have been possible. Though crypto-related crime reached an all-time high last year, with fraudulent addresses receiving over $14 billion during 2021, cases brought before the courts are still shockingly low. This is largely because the majorit...