I've been victim of a scam! What should I do?

Sadly, scams are unavoidable in the cryptocurrency space.

Cryptocurrency transactions are not reversible which is why bad actors like to use cryptocurrency like bitcoin, along with secure crypto wallets like Edge, that are encrypted and private (zero-knowledge) with self-custodial (holding your own private key) wallets inside.

Even without using Edge, anyone can create a Bitcoin (or other crypto) wallet address, and depending on how the stolen coins move from address to address, you may be able to identify an exchange wallet where the scammer is trying to off-ramp the coins for their local currency.

If this is the case, you may be able to report the criminal to that exchange directly, and get their account frozen while you pursue legal action.

We always advise anyone that is a victim of a scam to please report to your local law enforcement so there is a record of what has happened, so gather as much data about this case as you can into a personal research document.

Here below you have an incomplete list of police departments specialized in cyber crimes, divided by State. For other countries, please search "Cyber Crime department for NAMEOFYOURCOUNTRY" on Google.

For USA you can contact the FBI

Department	Contact Information	Website
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)	Phone: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)	Visit Website

Local Cybercrime Police Departments in EU Countries

Country	City	Department	Contact	Website
Germany	Berlin	Landeskriminalamt Berlin (LKA Berlin)	Phone: 110 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
France	Paris	Direction centrale de la police judiciaire (DCPJ)	Phone: 17 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Italy	Rome	Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni	Phone: 112 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Spain	Madrid	Unidad de Investigación Tecnológica (UIT)	Phone: 091 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
United Kingdom	London	National Crime Agency (NCA)	Phone: 101 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Netherlands	The Hague	Politie (Dienst Landelijke Recherche, Team High Tech Crime)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Sweden	Stockholm	National Cyber Crime Centre (NCC)	Phone: 114 14 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Belgium	Brussels	Federal Computer Crime Unit (FCCU)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Denmark	Copenhagen	Police National Cyber Crime Centre (NC3)	Phone: +45 114 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Portugal	Lisbon	Polícia Judiciária (PJ) - Unidade Nacional de Combate ao Cibercrime e à Criminalidade Tecnológica (UNC3T)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Greece	Athens	Hellenic Cybercrime Division (HCD)	Phone: 1142 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Austria	Vienna	Bundeskriminalamt (BK)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Finland	Helsinki	National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) - National Cyber Crime Centre (NC3)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Ireland	Dublin	Cyber Crime Investigation Unit (CCIU)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Poland	Warsaw	Centralne Biuro Śledcze Policji (CBŚP) - Wydział do walki z Cyberprzestępczością	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Czech Republic	Prague	Národní centrum kybernetického a informačního bezpečí (NCKIB)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Hungary	Budapest	Cyber Crime Unit of the Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation (NNI Kiber Bűnözés Elleni Osztály)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Slovakia	Bratislava	National Crime Agency (Národná Kriminálna Agentúra)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Romania	Bucharest	Directorate for Countering Organized Crime and Terrorism (Direcția de Combatere a Criminalității Organizate și Terorismului - Serviciul de Combatere a Criminalității Informatice)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Bulgaria	Sofia	Cybercrime Department (Управление "Киберпрестъпност")	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Lithuania	Vilnius	Information Technology and Communications Department (Informacinės Technologijos ir Ryšių Departamentas - Kibernetinio Nusikalstamumo Prevencijos Skyrius)	Phone: 112 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Estonia	Tallinn	Central Criminal Police (Keskne Kriminaalpolitsei - Cybercrime Bureau)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Latvia	Riga	State Police (Valsts Policija - Criminal Police - Cybercrime Unit)	Phone: 110 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Croatia	Zagreb	Ministry of the Interior - Cybercrime Police Directorate (Direkcija policije - Služba za visokotehnološki kriminalitet)	Phone: 192 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Slovenia	Ljubljana	Specialized State Prosecutor's Office (Specializirano državno tožilstvo Republike Slovenije - Specialized State Prosecution Office for Prosecuting Cybercrime)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Luxembourg	Luxembourg City	Police Grand-Ducale (Cybercrime Unit)	Phone: 113 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Malta	Valletta	Malta Police Force (Cybercrime Unit)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Cyprus	Nicosia	Police - Cybercrime Combatting Office (CCO)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website

Local Cybercrime Police Departments in Asian countries

Country	City	Department	Contact Information	Website
China	Beijing	Ministry of Public Security (MPS) - Cybersecurity Bureau	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Japan	Tokyo	Japan Cybercrime Control Center (JC3)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
India	New Delhi	Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) - Ministry of Home Affairs	Phone: 155260 Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
South Korea	Seoul	Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) - Cyber Terror Response Center (CTRC)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Singapore	Singapore	Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) - Singapore Police Force (SPF) - Technology Crime Division	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website

Local Cybercrime Police Departments in Oceanian countries

Country	City	Department	Contact Information	Website
Australia	Canberra	Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)	Phone: 1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371) Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
New Zealand	Wellington	New Zealand Police - High Tech Crime Group	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Fiji	Suva	Fiji Police Force - Cyber Crime Unit	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	Papua New Guinea Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary - National Cyber Crime Unit	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Samoa	Apia	Samoa Police - Cyber Crime Unit	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website

Local Cybercrime Police Departments in South America

Country	City	Department	Contact Information	Website
Brazil	Brasília	Department of Federal Police - Cybercrimes Division	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Argentina	Buenos Aires	Argentine Federal Police - Cybercrime Division	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Colombia	Bogotá	Colombian National Police - Cybernetic Center for Criminal Investigations (CCDI)	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Chile	Santiago	Investigative Police of Chile - Cybercrime Brigade	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website
Peru	Lima	Peruvian National Police - High Technology Crimes Division	Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]	Visit Website

Our suggestion is to send the transaction ID to the authorities, so they can try to trace the coin movements through the public ledgers / blockchains:

From within the wallet used to send money to the scammer -
- tap on the transaction where funds were sent
- scroll down and tap on View Advanced Transaction Data
- copy the ID and paste it into your research document & the email you will send to the authorities

Hopefully they will be able to follow the money.