Tracing is not recovery
A transaction path may be visible, but that does not prove who controls a wallet or create authority to freeze, seize or reverse funds.
Protection, evidence and public rules
Can a company or hacker recover my stolen cryptocurrency?
Blockchain tracing may help identify where cryptocurrency moved, but tracing is not the same as recovering it. No private company, investigator or hacker can guarantee that another party will return funds or that an exchange or authority will seize them.
Page P-027Guidance pageReviewed 29 August 2026
Key Guidance
Do not pay an unsolicited recovery company or hacker, and never share a seed phrase, private key or remote access. Contact the exchange or wallet provider involved and report the theft. If you consider professional help, verify the firm independently and reject guarantees or unexplained upfront release fees.
Start with Key Guidance for the short answer. Then read the sections that match what happened and what you need to do.
Understand the issue
Why this matters to you
After a loss, real technical language and public blockchain data can make a recovery promise sound certain even when the provider has no power to return the assets.
Victim details can circulate
The original scammer or another criminal may reuse or buy contact and loss information to make a recovery offer appear informed.
Fees can multiply
A supposed investigator may demand retainers, taxes, gas fees, insurance, deposits or wallet activation payments without returning anything.
Access requests can create a second theft
A seed phrase, private key, wallet connection, screen share or remote-access session can expose assets that remain.
Consequences and movement
What may happen next
Separate evidence services from promises of outcome. A genuine professional should define what they can investigate, what they cannot compel and how fees work.
Unsolicited recovery contact
Treat it as high risk. Genuine knowledge of the loss can come from the original fraud, leaked records or public blockchain data.
Guaranteed return
Reject it. Recovery depends on control of the receiving service, legal process, jurisdiction, evidence and whether assets remain.
Request for wallet secrets
Stop at once. No recovery service needs your seed phrase or private key to trace a public transaction.
Professional investigation
Verify legal status, regulatory claims, named staff, fees, conflicts and the exact deliverable through sources the firm did not provide.
Practical response
What you should do
Protect what remains before pursuing what was lost. The first recovery task is preventing another payment or access event.
- End the recovery contactDo not pay, connect a wallet, install software or continue a screen share while the person or company is unconfirmed.
- Secure remaining assetsUse trusted wallet and exchange guidance to protect unaffected accounts, sign-in details and devices. Revoke suspicious permissions where appropriate.
- Contact the exchange or wallet providerProvide transaction hashes, wallet addresses, account identifiers, dates and the police or fraud-report reference if available.
- Report both incidentsRecord the original crypto loss and any recovery approach. The second contact may be a linked recovery-room scam.
- Verify professional claims independentlyCheck the relevant professional or regulatory register and contact the organisation through a route you find yourself.
- Demand a bounded written serviceBefore paying, require clear scope, fees, refund terms, limitations and deliverables. A tracing report is not a guarantee of recovered funds.
Look more closely
Known transaction details do not prove a recovery service is genuine
Blockchain information can be public, copied or supplied by the person responsible for the original loss. Claims of special access, guaranteed recovery or payment before results require particularly careful independent verification.
The person is seeking certainty and return of funds.
A recovery message refers to the loss or wallet.
Technical language, investigators or official names create authority.
Fees, wallet connections or remote access are described as necessary.
More money, sign-in details or remaining assets are taken.
Selected history
Historical cases and lasting lessons
Recovery-room scams
The FCA warns that recovery rooms contact people who have already lost money and claim that funds can be recovered, commonly for an upfront fee.
Lasting lesson: Prior victim knowledge is not evidence that the recovery service is genuine. It may be evidence that victim data has been reused.
False authority and crypto recovery
Recovery schemes may claim regulator, police, legal or blockchain expertise while requesting new crypto payments.
Lasting lesson: Verify the authority separately and tell the difference between an investigation and power to compel the return of assets.
Transferable understanding
Patterns over time
Loss makes certainty valuable
A guaranteed answer can feel more helpful than an honest explanation of jurisdiction, tracing limits and uncertainty.
Technical detail can be harvested
Public transactions allow a scammer to cite real wallet movements without possessing recovery powers.
The fee is renamed repeatedly
Tax, insurance, verification, gas and release charges can all perform the same function: another payment before any return.
Authority is borrowed
Regulator names, police references and cloned professional identities can make a private demand appear official.
Plain-language answers
Common questions
Can blockchain investigators trace stolen crypto?
Sometimes they can analyse public transactions and identify links to known services. That may support an investigation, but it does not itself return the funds.
Can a hacker reverse the transaction?
No one can simply reverse a confirmed blockchain transfer. A hacker offering to steal it back may be committing another offence or attempting to steal from you.
Does a recovery firm need my seed phrase?
No. Never disclose a seed phrase or private key. Anyone with it may control the wallet.
Are all paid recovery services scams?
No, genuine legal, forensic and investigation services exist. Their competence and authority are limited, they cannot guarantee recovery, and they should be independently verified.
Protect the remaining assets before seeking recovery
Contact the exchange or wallet provider, preserve transaction evidence and report the incident. Treat every recovery promise as a new claim requiring independent verification.
Scamology Insights
A known loss can become a new Door
These learning resources can help you spot when recovery language, a claimed identity and a payment request are being used against someone who has already lost money. Links are intentionally withheld in this production version.
Continue understanding
Explore related guidance
Evidence and currency