How do I spot and report an XRP scam, and what do I do if I've been scammed?

The full answer

US and Canadian authorities give first steps for crypto scams in general, and this page applies them to XRP. Their steps: keep every record, report to the police or the national fraud centre, and tell the platform that moved the money. The sections below give the details and the addresses.

How do I spot an XRP scam?

The FTC and the CAFC name clear signs. The FTC says “Only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency,” and adds that no legitimate business will demand crypto in advance, “not to buy something, and not to protect your money.”[1] It also says “Only scammers will guarantee profits or big returns.”[1] The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) lists “Unsolicited investment opportunities (even from friends and family)” and “Requests for cryptocurrency payments” among its warning signs.[2]

Three scripts have their own pages on this site. They cover fake XRP giveaways, online profit scams run through fake platforms, and callers posing as your bank.

What should I do first if I’ve been scammed?

Pay no one who offers to recover the money. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) says to “Be wary of cryptocurrency recovery services, especially those charging an up-front fee,”[3] and the CAFC says to “never send recovery money.”[10] Then collect the records investigators ask for. The IC3 asks for “cryptocurrency addresses; the amounts and types of cryptocurrencies; transaction hashes; and the dates and times of the transactions,” and, if possible, “how you met the scammer, what platforms you used to communicate, any web domain involved in the scheme, and any phone numbers or other identifiers.”[3] A June 2026 FBI alert on courier-based crypto scams adds profile names, the wallets you were told to pay and, if possible, “screenshots of texts, messages.”[4]

The XRP Ledger documentation says that with a transaction’s identifying hash, “you can look it up that way.”[16] How to find it is on reading an XRP Ledger transaction on an explorer. If the transfer itself went astray rather than to a scammer, start with what to do when an XRP transfer has not arrived.

Where do I report in the United States?

The FTC lists five places:[1]

• the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov;
• the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) at CFTC.gov/complaint;
• the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at sec.gov/tcr;
• the IC3 at ic3.gov;
• “the cryptocurrency exchange company you used to send the money.”

For the exchange or crypto ATM operator, the FTC says to act “immediately,” to “Tell them it was a fraudulent transaction,” and to “Ask them to reverse the transaction and refund your money.”[5] The IC3 asks people to file “even if a financial loss did not occur.”[3] The CFTC takes complaints online or by phone at 866-366-2382.[6] Victims aged 60 or over can get help filing with the IC3 from the DOJ Elder Justice Hotline, 1-833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).[4]

Where do I report in Canada?

The CAFC says: “If you have been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, please contact your local police as soon as possible.” It also recommends reporting to the CAFC. “It’s the role of your local police to investigate,” and the CAFC keeps “a central repository of information to assist with investigations.”[9] Reports can be made online at reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca, anonymously if you wish, or by phone at 1-888-495-8501.[9][10]

Its victim checklist adds three steps: report to “the financial institution that transferred the money,” get a police “file number for future reference,” and keep “copies of emails and/or text messages.”[10] The Competition Bureau says to report “even if there was no financial loss.”[11]

If a trading platform or investment offer was involved, the CAFC says to “Check the legitimacy of the investment with your provincial/territorial securities regulators.”[2] The BC Securities Commission, for example, takes complaints directly through an online complaint form or at 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393.[12]

What happens after I report, and how long does it take?

As of September 29, 2026, none of the US or Canadian pages listed here gives a response time or says a victim will be contacted. What they describe is how reports are used.

• The IC3 says complaint information “is analyzed and disseminated for investigative and intelligence purposes for law enforcement and public awareness.”[8]
• The FTC says it can use a report to “build cases against scammers,” spot trends and educate the public.[5]
• The SEC’s online system sends “a notice confirming that your submission has been received successfully and providing the submission number for your records.”[7]
• In Canada, local police investigate, and the CAFC keeps “a central repository of information to assist with investigations.”[9]

The IC3’s Recovery Asset Team works with financial institutions and FBI field offices to help freeze funds for victims. In 2025 it froze $679,013,183 across 3,900 incidents, a 58% success rate.[8] Our reading: this shows funds can be frozen. The report, as read on September 29, 2026, does not say how many of these cases began with a victim’s complaint. The IC3 says that in the past most of these cases were business email compromise, and that tech-support and account-takeover cases rose in 2025.[8] The same report does not say how many involved crypto either. Separately, the FBI’s Operation Level Up notified 3,780 crypto investment fraud victims in 2025, 78% of whom did not know they were being scammed, with estimated victim savings of $225,871,319.[8]

Will reporting get my money back?

The sources describe recovery of crypto as hard. The IC3 says US law enforcement “may encounter significant challenges when following cryptocurrency that enters other jurisdictions.”[3] The CAFC says “Once money is sent, it’s often transferred overseas and is very difficult to recover.”[15] The FTC says crypto payments lack the legal protections of cards, “so it can be hard to get your money back.”[5] What official recovery routes have achieved is covered on whether stolen XRP can be recovered. Tax treatment of the loss is on deducting crypto scam losses.

How do I avoid a second scam after reporting?

The CAFC says fraudsters “often target victims of fraud a second or third time with the promise of recovering money,” and advises “never send recovery money.”[10] The FBI says “The US Government does not request payment for law enforcement services provided,”[13] and “Law enforcement does not charge victims a fee for investigating crimes.”[14] The BC Securities Commission says it “does not have a ‘Recovery Unit’” and never promotes firms that claim to recover scam losses.[12] The full pattern is on crypto recovery scams.