Legal issues
Orders the court can make
- Proprietary injunction: freezes specific traced assets you claim to own. There is no need to show a risk of dissipation.
- Worldwide freezing order: restrains a defendant's assets generally up to the value of the claim.
- Bankers Trust and Norwich Pharmacal orders: require third parties, including exchanges, to disclose account holder details and transaction records.
- Service out of the jurisdiction: the CPR gateway for information orders (PD 6B para 3.1(25)) allows disclosure applications against overseas exchanges.
- Constructive trust claims against those who receive stolen assets.
Costs and risks
Urgent applications usually require a cross-undertaking in damages, full and frank disclosure to the court, and blockchain tracing evidence. They are costly, and recovery depends on assets being located with someone the court can reach. Smaller losses may be better pursued through the police and the exchange's own processes.
Evidence that matters
- Transaction hashes and wallet addresses for every movement you know about.
- Screenshots and messages with the fraudster, including fake platforms or apps.
- Your exchange and bank records showing how the funds left you.
- A professional blockchain tracing report, usually needed for court.
Reasonable lines of enquiry
Identify where the funds came to rest, especially exchanges with UK or other cooperative operations. Check whether the receiving accounts have already been frozen by the exchange or by police. Consider whether your bank or payment provider owes you anything: mandatory reimbursement rules for authorised push payment fraud generally do not cover payments to an account in your own name, such as your own exchange account, but complaints about a bank's handling of warning signs can still be possible.
What happens next
- Report to the police at reportfraud.police.uk and notify the exchanges involved.
- Commission tracing to identify where assets sit now.
- Apply urgently, without notice, for injunctions and disclosure orders.
- Serve the orders, including by NFT or email where permitted.
- Use disclosed information to identify defendants and pursue judgment and enforcement.
A police crypto wallet freezing order may also be in place; victims can apply for release of their assets in those proceedings. See crypto wallet freezing orders.
Immediate steps
- Act within days. Record every address and hash before anything else.
- Report to Report Fraud (0300 123 2040) and to the exchanges where funds landed.
- Do not pay "recovery" services that contact you first; they are a common second scam.
- Never share your seed phrase or install remote-access software at anyone's request.
What should you send us?
Send the loss amount, dates, asset types, the addresses and hashes you have, and any police reference.