Reporting matters twice over. It creates the official record that banks, exchanges, and courts expect to see, and it helps the authorities map the networks behind these schemes. Here is the order to do it in.
Cease sending money or crypto to the platform or individual, whatever they promise. A demand for a withdrawal tax, an unlock fee, an insurance deposit, or a verification transfer is the fraud continuing, not a condition ending. Do not confront the operators; simply stop.
Keep transaction hashes, destination wallet addresses, chat and email exports, the platform URL, account manager names, bank and card references, and screenshots of dashboards and refusal messages. Evidence deleted in frustration is evidence lost for good.
If fiat money left your account by transfer or card, contact your bank's fraud team immediately and record the reference number. UK banks operate under obligations around authorised push payment fraud, and early notice matters.
Report the scam to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, and keep the crime reference number. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101. If you are outside the UK, report to your national reporting body as well.
A police report number opens a file. It does not, by itself, freeze assets at an overseas exchange or return funds. Civil recovery runs on a parallel track: where forensic tracing shows assets still resting at a custodial venue, a solicitor can assess whether a court order can reach them. The two tracks support each other. One is not a substitute for the other.
A solicitor's file converts your evidence into a format that institutions and courts must engage with: a documented chronology, a forensic trace where warranted, and properly drafted correspondence or proceedings. The written case evaluation is free, and it will tell you plainly whether civil recovery is realistic in your matter or not.
