Asked to move your crypto to a safe wallet
If someone contacts you claiming your funds are at risk and tells you to move your cryptocurrency to a safe wallet, it is an impersonation scam. Legitimate banks and platforms will never ask you to transfer assets to protect them.
- This fraud happens when a caller poses as your bank, an exchange security officer, or a police investigator, falsely claiming that your account is compromised and urging you to safeguard your funds immediately.
- A major warning sign is being pressured to act urgently, download a new software wallet, or transfer assets to a designated address provided by the caller to keep them safe from supposed hackers.
- Cease all communication with the caller immediately, do not approve any pending transactions, and contact your bank and exchange directly using verified phone numbers found on their official websites to secure your accounts.
- Preserve all records of the incident, including telephone call logs, text messages, the exact deposit addresses provided by the caller, transaction hashes, and records of the initial purchases from your bank or exchange account.
- Report the fraud without delay to Action Fraud or Police Scotland if you live in Scotland, and inform your bank's fraud department so they can monitor your accounts and potentially recall any fiat deposits.
- An onchain trace can identify the flow of funds to subsequent deposit addresses and services, but it cannot reverse executed transfers or reveal the real-world identity of the recipient without formal law-enforcement requests.
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Written by the Wallsec investigations team. General information only, not legal or financial advice.
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