Money and Payment Scams

Investment and Cryptocurrency Scams

Fraudulent opportunities use fabricated returns, manipulated dashboards, and urgency to obtain deposits.

Understand the pattern

How this scam operates

A promoter directs the victim to a fabricated investment service or manipulated account dashboard that appears to show reliable profits. Small withdrawals may be allowed to build confidence. Larger deposits are then encouraged, and supposed tax, insurance, or release fees appear when the victim tries to withdraw.

Details can vary, but the goal is usually to create enough trust, fear, or urgency that you act before verifying the story. Caller ID, profile names, logos, and polished websites can all be copied.

A useful ruleEnd the original contact. Then find the organization or person independently and ask whether the claim is genuine.

What the scammer wants

Cryptocurrency or bank deposits, identity information, and repeated fees for a fabricated withdrawal.

Common tactics

Guaranteed returns, social proof, manipulated dashboards, small early withdrawals, and escalating release fees.

Evidence in context

Commonly documented operational hotspots

These are recurring locations in law-enforcement cases and established fraud research—not a ranking of countries or people.

Location does not identify a person Scam operations are transnational. A phone number, caller ID, profile or IP location, accent, or claimed location does not reliably reveal where an operation is based. Listing a location does not imply that ordinary people from that country or region are scammers.
Cambodia Primary

The FBI, DOJ, and international law enforcement document industrial-scale online investment-fraud compounds operating in Cambodia. Some workers are trafficking victims forced to commit fraud.

Association
Primary documented location
Evidence source
Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud — Federal Bureau of Investigation
Last verified
Myanmar (Burma) Primary

Law enforcement documents industrial-scale online investment-fraud compounds operating in Myanmar. Some workers are recruited deceptively, detained, and forced to commit fraud under threats or violence.

Association
Primary documented location
Evidence source
INTERPOL releases new information on globalization of scam centres — INTERPOL
Last verified
Laos Primary

International reporting identifies Laos among Southeast Asian locations hosting scam compounds. A compound location is distinct from the nationality or affiliation of its organizers.

Association
Primary documented location
Evidence source
INTERPOL releases new information on globalization of scam centres — INTERPOL
Last verified
Recognize the pressure

Warning signs to look for

High risk

Guaranteed returns

An investment is described as certain, risk-free, or consistently profitable.

High risk

Fees required to withdraw

More money, tax, or insurance is demanded before supposed funds can be released.

High risk

Manufactured urgency

You are pressured to act before you can stop, verify, or ask someone you trust.

Take back control

What to do next

Take protective action even if you are not yet certain this is a scam.

  1. immediate response

    Stop additional deposits

    Do not send more money; preserve records and contact your financial provider.

  2. Immediate response

    Preserve evidence and secure access

    Save messages, receipts, account names, URLs, and transaction details. If credentials were exposed, change them from a trusted device and review active sessions.

How to protect yourself

Pause unexpected requests involving money, codes, documents, or account access. Leave the original conversation and verify the claim using an official app, a known website, or a number from a statement or card. Do not rely on caller ID, profile names, or links supplied by the sender.

If you were affected

Stop contact and further payments. Contact the bank, payment service, marketplace, or platform through its official channel. Secure exposed accounts from a trusted device, preserve messages and transaction records, and report through the appropriate official service. Watch for follow-up recovery scams.

Open the recovery checklist

Related practical guides

Recovery

What to Do If You Sent Money to a Scammer

Immediate steps for contacting a payment provider, protecting accounts, and preserving evidence.

7 minute read

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Verified destinations

Official help and reporting

Choose the service for your location. External links open the organization’s official website.

United States

ReportFraud.ftc.gov

Federal Trade Commission

Official United States service for reporting fraud, scams, and bad business practices.

Visit official site
United Kingdom

Action Fraud

City of London Police

The United Kingdom’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.

Phone: 0300 123 2040

Visit official site
Canada

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ontario Provincial Police, and Competition Bureau Canada

Canada’s central service for information about fraud and for reporting fraud and cybercrime.

Phone: 1-888-495-8501

Visit official site
Australia

Scamwatch

National Anti-Scam Centre

Australian government information and reporting guidance about scams.

Visit official site

Scam Recovery Scams

Fraudsters recontact people who have already lost money and promise recovery in exchange for upfront fees.

Read related guide