What Evidence You Need After a Crypto Scam

Transaction records

The financial spine of the case. Gather every payment, including small ones.

• Every transaction hash for crypto sent, in full
• Every destination wallet address
• Date, time, amount, and asset for each transfer
• Exchange withdrawal confirmations and full account statements
• Bank wire confirmations, SWIFT references, and card statements
• Any receipts from ATMs, kiosks, or OTC purchases

Communications

Export rather than screenshot where the platform allows it — a full export preserves timestamps and metadata that a screenshot loses.

• Complete chat histories from WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, or the dating app
• All emails, including headers where you can access them
• SMS and call logs with the numbers used
• Voice notes, video calls, and any photos or documents they sent
• Profile pages and usernames on every platform involved

Platform evidence

Fraudulent sites are taken down quickly. Capture them now.

• Full-page screenshots of your dashboard and displayed balance
• The platform's transaction and deposit history pages
• Their terms, about page, and any licence or registration claims
• The exact URL, plus any archived copy on the Wayback Machine
• Support chat transcripts, especially the withdrawal refusal
• Any app you installed, and where you downloaded it from

How to preserve it properly

Store everything in one folder, backed up in at least two places. Use full-page captures rather than cropped ones, keep original files instead of re-photographing screens, and never edit or annotate the originals — keep annotations in a separate copy. Write a plain chronological timeline of events with dates while your memory is fresh.

What not to do

Do not confront the scammer or tell them you are investigating — accounts vanish immediately afterwards. Do not delete the app or close the account before capturing everything. Do not wipe or reset a compromised device. Do not send further payments of any kind.

More guides