Selected Cases

$8,000 Recovered in Crypto Investment Scam

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This case is one of the recent successful fraud recovery cases handled by our firm. The case involves online investment fraud / fake cryptocurrency trading platforms / telecom-induced fund transfers. Through cross-border legal cooperation and blockchain fund tracking, we successfully identified the flow of the involved funds and assisted the client in recovering the majority of the losses.

Williams & Connolly is committed to providing victims with professional, fast, and efficient legal support to safeguard our clients’ legitimate rights and interests, helping them regain trust and financial security.

Robert Kitchen found himself the target of a sophisticated crypto investment scam. The scammers impersonated an investment platform he had used for some time and demanded exorbitant fees to withdraw his money.

Mr. Kitchen opened an account on the trading platform AnalystQ, hoping to invest for the future. After a while, due to meager returns, he decided to stop trading and close the account, thinking nothing of it.

Several months later, someone claiming to work at AnalystQ contacted Mr. Kitchen, telling him that his wallet was still active and earning increasing profits, now worth $16,000.

They then claimed that Mr. Kitchen's wallet was now "cold" and that to withdraw his earnings, he needed to reactivate it. However, to do this, he needed to make a series of payments using Ibinex (a platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies).

Mr. Kitchen was advised to make two payments, the initial amounts relatively small. The second payment was supposedly to connect the previous "cold" wallet to the new active wallet. Afterward, he was told he needed to pay an additional $3,000 to pay taxes on his account.

After paying the fee, everything seemed to return to normal. Months later, Mr. Kitchens discovered that some of his deposited funds had been transferred to his work account. When he inquired with his account manager, he was told he needed to pay more to withdraw his funds.

This collection attempt finally made Mr. Kitchens realize it was all a scam. From then on, he cut off all contact with the bank and reported the incident.

Recovering the Scammed Money

After reporting the incident to the bank, Mr. Kitchens was told that the bank could not or would not provide him with any assistance.

Although they knew Mr. Kitchens' payment was irregular and that he had used a cryptocurrency exchange he had never used, they also denied any wrongdoing in helping to prevent the scam.

Because they refused to help, Mr. Kitchens then sought help and guidance from our law firm.

Our specialized anti-fraud unit reviewed his case and successfully recovered the entire $8,000 loss, plus additional interest, totaling over $9,000.

James Crossley, the fraud specialist paralegal who handled Mr. Kitchen's case, offers advice on how to avoid cryptocurrency investment scams:

Scammers are always coming up with new ways to deceive their targets. Taking advantage of the general lack of understanding about cryptocurrencies, scammers exploit this knowledge gap by fabricating seemingly harmless lies.

No investment firm managing your funds will act on your behalf without a contract. In the UK, to invest funds for others, a firm must be regulated by the FCA – you can check a firm's registration on the FCA website.

No legitimate investment broker or investment account manager will request payments in cryptocurrency – cryptocurrencies are harder to trace, easier to hide, and unregulated. Genuine investment firms only accept monetary investments, not cryptocurrencies.

If you have lost money due to a scam or fraud, even if it involves cryptocurrency, there are still other ways to recover your funds. Williams & Connolly has a dedicated anti-fraud department dedicated to helping victims recover their money.