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How To Recover Stolen Cryptocurrency In A Few Steps

A Crypto-Crime report in 2019 showed that $11.5 billion of cryptocurrency transactions have been lost globally. This is equivalent to the government budget of Latvia. The report predicted an even higher number in 2021.

Though blockchains are secure and cryptocurrency exchanges protect their accounts, thefts still happen. Even more heartbreaking, is the fact that the stolen assets are rarely recovered. Law enforcement agencies can do little when investigating stolen crypto because the crypto sphere is largely unregulated.

But do not give up hope. Recovery of stolen crypto is uncommon but can still be done. This article teaches you how to recover stolen cryptocurrency in a few steps.

Steps To Recover Your Stolen Crypto

The chances of never recovering your stolen coins are quite high. The lack of proper regulations guiding cryptocurrency exchanges makes it a major problem. There is not much that can be done legally against an exchange if your assets are stolen.

Here are a few ways you can recover your stolen cryptocurrency:

Contact the police

There is still difficulty regulating the crypto sphere and there is not much the police can do when your funds are stolen. However, crypto frauds must be reported to the police immediately. This will help the police respond better if you bring any valuable information that could lead to the arrest of the scammer.

Notify The Cryptocurrency Exchange

Once you discover that your cryptocurrency has been stolen, maybe through the hacking of your account, you need to act as quickly as possible. Delaying the tracing process could give the hackers enough time to transfer your coins to a cold wallet and then send them to other exchanges that could hide their trail.

Benjamin Sauter, a crypto theft expert said to Decrypt:

"The quicker you act, the better...the more experienced you are, and the less experienced the thieves are, the better chance you have".

If you store your cryptocurrency in an exchange, you should let them know about the hack. Exchanges have information that would be useful in investigations.

Call Your Bank

If there were bank-related costs during the transaction such as transaction fees, inform your bank.

When a fraudulent transaction is reported to a bank, the bank begins the process of securing the defrauded account. This could prevent the hackers from inflicting more damage to your finances.

Follow The Money

In blockchains, all transactions leave a 'money trail' that can be traced. It is also quite easy to find the hacker’s wallet address.

You can keep a tab on the wallet address that your assets were transferred to and monitor its transactions. If the scammer attempts to transfer the coins from the wallet to a cryptocurrency exchange, report to the crypto exchange immediately. When cryptocurrencies are moved from a wallet to an exchange, it is usually changed to fiat currency.

On most exchanges, a trader has to submit KYC (Know Your Customer) information, such as names and addresses, before they can trade crypto as fiat currency. The exchange, if you report the transaction, can help you track the scammer. This is why a police report needs to be filed.

You can follow the trail of your funds through blockchain explorers like Blockcypher. The site would provide you with the user’s bitcoin address. The bitcoin address is then checked on www.bitcoinwhoswho.com to find its owner.

Use ReclaimCrypto

London-based blockchain analysis company Coinfirm recently launched ReclaimCrypto, a venture that would investigate cryptocurrency theft.

https://twitter.com/CoinDesk/status/1189829747095883776?s=20

Hire A Bounty Hunter

On Bitcoin bounty websites, you can post a bounty that will get you the services of an experienced blockchain expert. The expert will then investigate and try to recover the funds.

These experts charge quite a lot and most times, only provide public information that does not help in getting back your assets.

How to prevent Crypto theft

Do not talk publicly about owning cryptocurrency

This is simple but important advice. Hackers will only target those that will yield returns. You become a target if your social media activity reveals too much about your assets.

Use Multi-factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication can be your safest bet if you use a hot wallet. It makes anyone need multiple verifications before they can access your wallet.

It is advisable that you use a multi-factor authenticator app rather than using the SMS option.

You can disable the SMS option if it exists.

Set up an account with a new email and password

Create a new email account to use with your crypto wallet. This reduces the odds that you will be scammed through your email.

Set up a strong email password. Use sentences and Leetspeak converter for your password, to make it harder to crack.

Use a cold wallet

A cold wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet that is used to store cryptocurrency offline. This is the opposite of a hot wallet.

Storing your bitcoins offline makes it more secure because hackers cannot penetrate a cold wallet as easily as a hot wallet.

Spread your investment across exchanges

A lot of exchanges have been hacked in recent times and no exchange is 100% invulnerable. Use multiple exchanges for trading to spread your investments. This will divide your funds and minimize the impact of a hack.

As cryptocurrency grows in prominence, methods for hacking and defrauding crypto owners improve. The best approach to prevent theft by protecting your wallet. Check your phone regularly for malware threats and stop unauthorized access to your account. Also keep your account information like username and password well secured.

Like Like Celebrate Support Love Insightful Funny Comment Share 282 Comments Michael Tönz, graphic

Michael Tönz 4w

How I recovered from a scam. I was scammed on telegram, I was stuck between loosing my life, finance and family after loosing a whopping amount to a scammer who kept asking for more payment before accessing my funds and making withdrawals. It’s very important to report any scam incident to the proper authorities. Be cautious—some so-called “recovery” services out here. After countless research for a legal investigative department on my case. I came across Agent Saul Woodshare while reading a TV series that teaches about scam and how to go about it. I immediately followed the instructions on how to file a request with the contact details [email protected] I got a response within a short period of time to provide all pertinent proofs of payment made to the scammers. To my astonish surprise a trace protocol was carried on the transaction bringing all the history of how the money was moved, a centralized withdrawal was made directly to my account from the available balance found. Withdrawal is possible, provided you have all proofs of payment made. What surprises me is how fast they respond to cases, and proceeds immediately [email protected] Whatsap +14029878152

Like Reply 1 Reaction dianne Struble, graphic

dianne Struble 1mo

I have always thought every recovery company in the industry was a scam. Katie, a friend of mine had used astrasolution01 on iG and she told me that they did a great job. So, with caution, I contacted them and I was pleasantly surprised. They were very patient and set me up on a plan that was affordable for me. All in all I was very happy with their service and even more happy when I saw my stolen funds in my account. I would recommend them to anyone looking for FUNDS RECOVERY helps. For their contact: [email protected]

Like Reply 1 Reaction dianne Struble, graphic

dianne Struble 1mo

Like Reply 1 Reaction Colin Haynes, graphic

Colin Haynes 1mo

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Steps To Recover Your Stolen Crypto

Contact the police

Notify The Cryptocurrency Exchange

Call Your Bank

Follow The Money

Use ReclaimCrypto

How to prevent Crypto theft

Do not talk publicly about owning cryptocurrency

Use Multi-factor Authentication

Set up an account with a new email and password

Use a cold wallet

Spread your investment across exchanges

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