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[Explore Stack Internal](https://stackoverflow.co/internal/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=money-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams-compact-popover) # [Can I recover this money?](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money) [Ask Question](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) Asked 1 month ago Modified [24 days ago](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money?lastactivity "2026-03-10 15:19:59Z") Viewed 5k times This question shows research effort; it is useful and clear 11 Save this question. Show activity on this post. Over the last one plus years, I invested £2500, then shifted into cryptocurrency, with Altian Finance. Early on, they asked me to invest more money. The asking became forceful and finally they “lent” me around £5.000. (They eventually repaid themselves out of the growing account.). Their company name changed several times, although I believed they were all part of Altian. They explained that there were suspicions of identity hacking in the previous companies. Apparent Altian over-extended itself financially. I was repeatedly asked to invest more money and I ignored these requests but several months later, I was phoned by someone who claimed to be from CySC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission). This person said that Altian was no longer allowed to trade and the CySC were trying to return money from Altian to any investors. They identified the money that was in my wallet and said they would would help me recover my money back into my bank account. After contacting CySC I now know that the people who claimed to be from the CySC are scammers. There is currently about £36,000 in my wallet that I cannot change into a crypto that is recognised by Coinbase in order to change into real money and deposit it into my bank account. How do I do this or can I do this? - [scams](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/scams "show questions tagged 'scams'") - [cryptocurrency](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/cryptocurrency "show questions tagged 'cryptocurrency'") - [crypto-exchanges](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/crypto-exchanges "show questions tagged 'crypto-exchanges'") [Share](https://money.stackexchange.com/q/169282 "Short permalink to this question") Share a link to this question Copy link [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 4.0") [Improve this question](https://money.stackexchange.com/posts/169282/edit) Follow Follow this question to receive notifications asked Feb 15 at 14:13 [](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/185843/john-boyle) [John Boyle](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/185843/john-boyle) 11111 silver badge33 bronze badges 6 - 39 To be blunt because I want to save you from further loss: The entire Altian platform was a scam from day one. The money you've seen isn't real money. It is a fake balance generated by their software to keep you engaged. This is why you can't transfer it to Coinbase; the tokens don't actually exist on a legitimate exchange. MiniRagnarok – [MiniRagnarok](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/25294/miniragnarok "101 reputation") 2026-02-17 16:18:30 +00:00 [Commented Feb 17 at 16:18](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347746_169282) - 14 I would go so far as to say "all crypto is scam" now. It had such promise too..... Criggie – [Criggie](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/54049/criggie "802 reputation") 2026-02-18 02:53:49 +00:00 [Commented Feb 18 at 2:53](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347754_169282) - 18 Just to be clear: you lost the money you actually send them (£2500 if I understand correctly), which disappeared instantly into their pockets. All the rest never existed. jcaron – [jcaron](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/35356/jcaron "4,381 reputation") 2026-02-18 17:38:23 +00:00 [Commented Feb 18 at 17:38](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347759_169282) - 6 Did you contribute anything after the £2500? Chris – [Chris](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/39392/chris "671 reputation") 2026-02-18 22:15:54 +00:00 [Commented Feb 18 at 22:15](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347760_169282) - 2 Hm, has there ever been any feedback from one of the "I got scammed" questions? Seems like they are all hit & run. pipe – [pipe](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/57878/pipe "101 reputation") 2026-02-19 22:13:18 +00:00 [Commented Feb 19 at 22:13](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347762_169282) \| [Show **1** more comment](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money "Expand to show all comments on this post") ## 3 Answers 3 Sorted by: [Reset to default](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money?answertab=scoredesc#tab-top) This answer is useful 51 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. You have been the victim of a cryptocurrency scam. Your money is gone. - Stop all interactions with the scammers. - Change your email, bank, and insurance passwords. - File a police report with your local jurisdiction to serve as evidence for future identify theft. - If you live in the United States, [place freezes on your credit reports](https://www.usa.gov/credit-freeze) to decrease your exposure to identify theft. - In the United States, [the loss may be eligible for tax deductions](https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/nta-blog/irs-chief-counsel-advice-on-theft-loss-deductions-for-scam-victims/2025/04/). [Share](https://money.stackexchange.com/a/169283 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 4.0") [Improve this answer](https://money.stackexchange.com/posts/169283/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications [edited Feb 15 at 16:35](https://money.stackexchange.com/posts/169283/revisions "show all edits to this post") answered Feb 15 at 16:29 [](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/106591/ian-campbell) [Ian Campbell](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/106591/ian-campbell) 64644 silver badges88 bronze badges 1 - 38 Agreed, and to add to this answer the "balance" you see in your "wallet" isn't really real either. Anyone can make a website where you "invest" money and numbers appear on a screen. The sooner you stop thinking of it as a "real" £36k that you might be able to get back, the better. Additionally, anyone who contacts you claiming they can help recover it is themselves a scammer (google "recovery scam" for more info). Vicky – [Vicky](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/739/vicky "26,075 reputation") 2026-02-16 09:28:37 +00:00 [Commented Feb 16 at 9:28](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347734_169283) [Add a comment](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 38 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. This is probably obvious by now, but the original account was a classic [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam). It's extremely common to run a second scam promising you assistance in recovering your money. This is actually a second advance-fee scam (typically run by the same group of scammers). For future reference: > Apparent Altian over-extended itself financially. It's unclear how you investing more money would help them with their financial situation. Legitimate investment firms aren't allowed to "dip into" client funds for their own use - they're required to keep it segregated. That's literally why multiple people from the former FTX exchange went to prison. Also: > There is currently about £36,000 in my wallet... Unfortunately, no, there's not. There is no wallet, and there is no money. Some of the comments have pointed this out, but it's not that hard to make a web site that shows whatever balance they want - the fact that their site shows that doesn't prove that that's actually "real" money that you have access to. That being said, you can report them to law enforcement, but it's not very likely that you'll recover the money. (I would still follow the suggestions in the [other answer](https://money.stackexchange.com/a/169283/50004), though). One final point: legitimate investment firms have to be registered with appropriate regulatory agencies, such as FINRA. Unless it's an extremely well-known company like Fidelity or Charles Schwab, I would encourage you to check the regulatory agencies in the country that the firm is headquartered in to make sure that it's a real company. Many agencies, such as the [FDIC](https://banks.data.fdic.gov/bankfind-suite/bankfind) and [FINRA](https://brokercheck.finra.org/), allow you to search to see whether an institution is registered with them. **Edit:** As pointed out in the comments, once you verify that the company is a legitimate financial institution, you also need to verify whether the person you're communicating with is actually associated with that company or whether they're simply impersonating that company. [Share](https://money.stackexchange.com/a/169288 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 4.0") [Improve this answer](https://money.stackexchange.com/posts/169288/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications [edited Mar 10 at 15:19](https://money.stackexchange.com/posts/169288/revisions "show all edits to this post") answered Feb 16 at 18:09 [](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/50004/ejoshuas-stand-with-ukraine) [EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/50004/ejoshuas-stand-with-ukraine) 3,72911 gold badge1414 silver badges3535 bronze badges 2 - 3 "check the regulatory agencies... to make sure that it's a real company" This is risky advice. Just because LegitFirm is a legit firm doesn't mean my contact from "LegitFirrn.com" or "Legit\_Firm.com" or "LegitFirm\_Investments.com" etc is actually going to the true organization. There are many ways to spoof even more convincingly. Jay McEh – [Jay McEh](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/127069/jay-mceh "101 reputation") 2026-02-26 16:17:23 +00:00 [Commented Feb 26 at 16:17](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347799_169288) - 2 @JayMcEh Good point. I edited to point out that, once they verify that the company is real, they need to verify whether the person that they're talking to actually works for the company that they claim to work from. EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine – [EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/50004/ejoshuas-stand-with-ukraine "3,729 reputation") 2026-02-26 18:31:40 +00:00 [Commented Feb 26 at 18:31](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347808_169288) [Add a comment](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 1 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. Unfortunately, in situations like this where you have been the victim of a cryptocurrency scam and the “wallet balance” is controlled by the scammer, there is no reliable way to recover the funds. Stop all contact with the scammers — anyone claiming they can help recover your money is very likely another scam. It can help to file a police report in your local jurisdiction and protect your personal accounts, but realistically the money you sent is gone and cannot be converted back into real value. [Share](https://money.stackexchange.com/a/169311 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 4.0") [Improve this answer](https://money.stackexchange.com/posts/169311/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications answered Feb 20 at 4:41 [](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/184267/aleks-manzur) [Aleks Manzur](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/184267/aleks-manzur) 8533 bronze badges 1 - I agree. The balance just shows the OP what the scammer wants them to see - it's not real money that actually exists somewhere that the OP is actually going to be able to recover. EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine – [EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/50004/ejoshuas-stand-with-ukraine "3,729 reputation") 2026-02-20 15:45:23 +00:00 [Commented Feb 20 at 15:45](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money#comment347764_169311) [Add a comment](https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/169282/can-i-recover-this-money "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| ## You must [log in](https://money.stackexchange.com/users/login?ssrc=question_page&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmoney.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F169282) to answer this question. **[Protected question](https://money.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/protect-questions)**. To answer this question, you need to have at least 10 reputation on this site (not counting the [association bonus](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/141648/what-is-the-association-bonus-and-how-does-it-work)). 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This is probably obvious by now, but the original account was a classic [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam). It's extremely common to run a second scam promising you assistance in recovering your money. This is actually a second advance-fee scam (typically run by the same group of scammers). For future reference: > Apparent Altian over-extended itself financially. It's unclear how you investing more money would help them with their financial situation. Legitimate investment firms aren't allowed to "dip into" client funds for their own use - they're required to keep it segregated. That's literally why multiple people from the former FTX exchange went to prison. Also: > There is currently about £36,000 in my wallet... Unfortunately, no, there's not. There is no wallet, and there is no money. Some of the comments have pointed this out, but it's not that hard to make a web site that shows whatever balance they want - the fact that their site shows that doesn't prove that that's actually "real" money that you have access to. That being said, you can report them to law enforcement, but it's not very likely that you'll recover the money. (I would still follow the suggestions in the [other answer](https://money.stackexchange.com/a/169283/50004), though). One final point: legitimate investment firms have to be registered with appropriate regulatory agencies, such as FINRA. Unless it's an extremely well-known company like Fidelity or Charles Schwab, I would encourage you to check the regulatory agencies in the country that the firm is headquartered in to make sure that it's a real company. Many agencies, such as the [FDIC](https://banks.data.fdic.gov/bankfind-suite/bankfind) and [FINRA](https://brokercheck.finra.org/), allow you to search to see whether an institution is registered with them. **Edit:** As pointed out in the comments, once you verify that the company is a legitimate financial institution, you also need to verify whether the person you're communicating with is actually associated with that company or whether they're simply impersonating that company.