How wallets get drained
Wallet scams often rely on fake websites or apps that imitate real wallets or exchanges, phishing links promising airdrops or rewards, or malicious approvals that let a contract move tokens out of your wallet later. Some scammers pose as support staff and ask for a seed phrase, which gives full control to anyone who has it. Others pair a wallet compromise with a longer investment scam built over weeks of messages. Because blockchain transactions are generally final, there is no bank to call to reverse them. What remains possible is tracing where the assets went, since most public blockchain transactions can be followed.
Steps to take right away
Move any remaining assets to a newly created wallet with a fresh recovery phrase on a device you trust, and revoke token approvals where you can. Record transaction hashes, wallet addresses, dates, and amounts, and take screenshots of the sites, apps, and messages involved. Notify the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and any exchange where you know the funds were sent. Be very cautious about recovery services that contact you or promise to retrieve funds for an upfront fee, which are a frequent second scam. Do not send additional money to unlock or release funds.
When legal action may help
If traced assets reached a centralized exchange that responds to legal process, a court order may help freeze the account or identify its holder, even when the scammer's name is unknown at first. Lawsuits against unnamed defendants and requests for emergency relief are sometimes used for this purpose. These steps cost money and are not useful in every case, particularly when funds moved through mixers or other services that obscure their path. We review your records, any tracing already done, and the size of the loss to discuss whether action is worth pursuing. If a platform or service provider failed to follow its own security commitments, we also consider claims against it.
