How to report a crypto scam in Australia
If you lost money, contact your bank straight away, then report it to ReportCyber, which the Australian Signals Directorate passes to police. Scamwatch asks people to report cryptocurrency scams to police through ReportCyber, and also collects reports to warn others. If you were targeted but didn't lose anything, report it to Scamwatch. Don't trust anyone who offers to recover the money for you: the ASD says that's a common way scammers take more.
Who do I report a crypto scam to in Australia?
- Your bank or financial institution, immediately, if money left your account. It may be able to stop a transaction. Call the number on its official website.
- ReportCyber, run by the Australian Signals Directorate's ACSC. Reports there are sent to police for review; police may not respond to every report, but the information supports investigations.
- Scamwatch, run by the National Anti-Scam Centre, to help warn others and disrupt the scam. The AFP notes that Scamwatch collects data but doesn't respond to reports.
- ASIC, for financial misconduct such as crypto-asset scams.
- The platform the scammer used to contact you, and the exchange you used to send the crypto.
If you want to talk to someone, the ASD's hotline is 1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371), 24 hours a day. IDCARE, the national identity and cyber support service, offers free help on 1800 595 160.
What should I record?
The ASD asks you to record what happened, when it happened, who contacted you, any information you received or shared, the platform it happened on, and how you responded.
For crypto, add the transaction details: the wallet addresses, amounts, transaction hashes, and the date and time of each transfer, plus the name and web address of any trading platform.
Can crypto lost to a scam be recovered in Australia?
Rarely. Scamwatch says money lost to cryptocurrency scams is rarely recovered. The best chance is acting quickly, through your bank and the police, with complete transaction details.
Be ready for a second approach. Scamwatch says 1 in 3 scam victims have been scammed more than once, the ASD warns against third parties offering to recover your money, and the National Anti-Scam Centre has linked a rise in rebate-scam losses to several high-value cryptocurrency recovery scams.
How big is the problem in Australia?
Australians made 481,523 scam reports in 2025, with $2.18 billion lost, according to the ACCC. Investment scams caused the most harm, at $837.7 million. In Scamwatch's own 2025 data, cryptocurrency and digital currency exchanges were the payment method with the highest losses: $121.3 million, or 36.2% of all reported losses.
How Tracewright helps
We trace stolen crypto for victims anywhere, including in Australia, and write the report police or a lawyer can act on. We don't contact the exchange or the scammer for you, and we never promise recovery. The intake review is free.
Sources
- Australian Signals Directorate (cyber.gov.au), Recover from scams
- Scamwatch, Investment scams
- Scamwatch, What to do if you've been scammed
- Australian Federal Police, Cybercrime
- ACCC, Continued action critical to combat fraud as annual scam losses exceed $2 billion (30 Mar 2026)
- National Anti-Scam Centre, Targeting Scams Report 2025 (Mar 2026)
Last reviewed . This guide is general information, not legal advice. Tracewright is a forensic examiner, not a law firm.
Related
- How to report a crypto scam or theft so the report gets usedWhere to report crypto theft in the US and UK, what to include, how to report to the exchange that received the funds, and how to avoid fake “IC3 agents”.
- Is crypto recovery legit? How to spot a recovery scamMost crypto “recovery” services that approach scam victims are a second scam. The red flags the FBI, FTC and CFTC list, what legitimate tracing can and can't do, and how to check any firm, including us.