Many individuals sadly are scammed into losing their cryptocurrency, or have their cryptocurrency stolen via a SIM swap (where the wrongdoer convinces a phone carrier to give them a user’s phone number) or hack. In certain circumstances, individuals who suffer hacks or SIM swaps may be able to pursue the crypto exchange or phone carrier for their losses. There may be, however, the possibility of attempting to recover the funds from the scammer itself depending on the circumstances as a recent case shows. With changing prices, coin-based scams, and misinformation from influencers, cryptocurrency is a volatile market, and you need to be careful.

According to the Federal Trade Commission , US consumers lost more than $80 million to crypto scams in the six-month period between October to March 2020. Federal law enforcement seized over $3.6 billion in crypto related to the hack of Bitfinex which occurred years ago.  The individuals from which the amounts were seized are accused of conspiring to launder $4.5 billion worth of stolen cryptocurrency. Despite its reputation as anonymous, crypto can be traced on the blockchain, allowing investigators to “follow the money.” While thieves often use tumblers and other means of deception to try to obscure their wrongdoing, there are on some occasions ways to trace the transactions and identify the perpetrators and recover the funds, as occurred in this case.

If you have a question about this case or a cryptocurrency matter, contact Michael Haeberle at mhaeberle@pattersonlawfirm.com.

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