Like many financial frauds, crypto scammers are using increasingly sophisticated ways to trick people into parting with their hard-earned cash. Some of the common scams include company impersonation, stolen ‘wallets’ or illegal trading.

Scammers have created fake cryptocurrency trading websites, fake social media channels and fake crypto wallets using very similar domain names to legitimate ones. These clone firms may include testimonials and trading records, to make the sites appear more trustworthy and believable.

Other sites are designed to be phishing pages – to steal your personal information, including genuine passwords and recovery phrases you hold to genuine crypto wallets. Once they have your details, passwords can be changed, so you no longer have access to your own accounts.

Since January 2020, crypto asset businesses must comply with Money Laundering Regulations and be registered with City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Any firm not registered with the FCA is trading illegally and should have returned any crypto assets to its customers and stopped trading by January 2021.

If you are paying for goods or services with cryptocurrency, double-check that the retailer you are dealing with accepts crypto as a means of payment – not all do.

If you are investing in cryptocurrency, watch out for people who contact you out of the blue for example through social media, email campaigns, messaging apps or by phone, guaranteeing high returns, quickly. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is! The value of cryptocurrency goes up and down frequently and so there are never any guarantees as to how cryptocurrency investments will perform.

If you are researching cryptocurrency investments online, watch out for online adverts that look professional and link to genuine-looking websites.

Do your research:

• Are they registered with the FCA?
• Have there been any complaints against them?
• Is the firm genuine or a clone, pretending to be someone else?

If you are not sure, take your time and don’t be rushed into making an investment. Speak to family and friends and seek advice from an independent financial adviser.

The short answer is very little. Cryptocurrency investments may not be FCA regulated. They are considered very high, speculative investments and you should be prepared to lose all your money if something goes wrong. If they are not FCA-regulated, then you may not be able to get help from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

If you think you have been the victim of a cryptocurrency scam, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud, the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre. If you have lost money, that may lead to a criminal investigation by the police.

If criminal proceedings are taken and there is a successful conviction, then the Court can award compensation. However, it can sometimes be difficult to trace the fraudster, particularly if they are abroad, or they may no longer have any assets with which to pay any compensation.

Our team can help – we have many years of experience in financial claims, including dealing with FOS cases. We understand the process, the time limits to be followed and the often complex legal arguments and defences the bank may raise.

Combining our experienced team and digital case management systems means we proactively pursue your claim and aim to get the best possible results.

As the claims are made against the banks that allowed the payments to be made, this can help circumvent the anonymity and complexity of the blockchain

We offer a free, no-obligation assessment of your case and will make a decision on whether or not to pursue your claim. If we do take on your case, we operate on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, meaning you do not pay us anything if your refund claim is unsuccessful.

If you think that you, your friend or a relative has been the victim of a cryptocurrency scam, then please get in touch with our specialist team for a confidential, no-obligation conversation.