Critical risk level Active

Fake fund recovery services and fictitious law firms

The second wave. The FBI has issued repeated public warnings about firms falsely claiming to recover scam losses, fictitious law firms targeting crypto victims, and criminals impersonating the FBI itself.

Also known as: Recovery scams, Crypto recovery fraud, Fictitious law firms, IC3 impersonation

Type of scam

Recovery Fraud

Jurisdiction

Global

First reported

Aug 2023

Last known activity

Jul 2026

How this operation works

If you have already lost money, you are now a target for this. Details of victims circulate, and a public post describing your loss is an advertisement to the people who run these operations — some of whom ran the original scam. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has published a sequence of warnings on exactly this: an August 2023 alert on the increase in companies falsely claiming an ability to recover funds lost in cryptocurrency investment scams; a June 2024 alert on fictitious law firms targeting cryptocurrency scam victims with offers to recover funds; and a warning that criminals are impersonating IC3 employees themselves. Between December 2023 and February 2025 the FBI received more than 100 reports of IC3 impersonation alone. Almost every complainant said the scammer claimed to have already recovered their lost funds, or offered to help recover them. The approach arrives by email, phone, social media or a reply on a forum where you described your loss. It may cite real details of your case. It may use a spoofed website, a cloned law firm identity, or AI-generated video of a spokesperson. Then it asks for an advance fee — a retainer, a "case opening" charge, a court filing cost, a tax — or for your wallet's seed phrase to "verify eligibility". Either request ends the same way. The FBI's own guidance is unambiguous: IC3 will never ask for payment to recover lost funds, and will never refer you to a company that charges for it. No government agency charges victims for recovery.

Warning signs people reported

They contacted you — you did not seek them out
They claim to have already located or recovered your funds
Any payment is requested before you receive anything: fee, retainer, tax, or "unlocking" charge
They ask for your wallet seed phrase, private key, or remote access to your device
They claim to be, or to work with, the FBI, IC3, the SEC or another agency
They guarantee recovery, or quote a recovery percentage before reviewing the case
They offer a "blockchain reversal" or to "re-mine" your transaction — technically impossible
Payment demanded in cryptocurrency, gift cards, or to a personal bank account
A recently registered domain, a virtual-office address, and no verifiable company registration

What this operation claims about itself

Recorded as claimed. The licence check below is what we were able to verify.

Company name given: Various — commonly impersonating law firms, regulators, or the FBI
Regulator named: Frequently impersonates the FBI, IC3, the SEC, or a national financial regulator

Licence check

Impersonating a licensed firm

These operations routinely present cloned law firm identities and borrowed regulator credentials. Verify any firm claiming to be a law firm with the bar or law society register for its stated jurisdiction, and verify licence claims on the regulator's own register — never on a link the firm supplies. This applies to us as well. We take our fee from recovered proceeds and we never ask you to pay anything up front or as a condition of release. If anyone contacts you claiming to be from this company and asks you to send money in order to receive money, it is not us.

Official warnings

Have you lost money to this operation?

File a claim and we will assess what recovery routes are realistically open to you. We will tell you plainly if we do not think recovery is achievable.

File a claim

Is this entry about you?

Entries are compiled from reports made to us and from public regulator notices. If you believe an entry is inaccurate, contact us with supporting evidence and we will review it.