Practical answers for victims, journalists, and investigators working on stolen-funds cases.
No. We are an independent investigative newsroom. We do not recover funds, do not take retainers, and do not endorse any third-party recovery firm. Anyone claiming to recover crypto in exchange for an upfront fee should be treated as a scam.
Use our encrypted tip line at /tip. Submissions are zero-log, AES-256 encrypted, and reviewed by our investigations desk within 48 hours. Include wallet addresses, transaction hashes, and screenshots where possible.
Real recovery is rare and only happens through law enforcement seizures, exchange freezes, or court orders — never through a private firm cold-calling victims. Industry-wide recovery rates remain below 7% of stolen value.
Every dossier requires two independent sources plus on-chain proof. We publish wallet clusters, transaction graphs, and primary documents alongside reporting so readers can verify our claims themselves.
We are an independent nonprofit. We accept no advertising, no sponsorships, no token grants, and no paid coverage. Funding comes from reader donations and a small foundation grant disclosed on our About page.
No. We operate a zero-log intake. We cannot share what we do not retain. Sources may choose to be connected with law enforcement, but only by their own explicit request.
Use our Recovery Firm Lookup at /tools. Red flags include upfront fees, guarantees of recovery, contact via Telegram or social DMs, and requests for wallet seed phrases or remote access to your device.
Yes, under Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0. Credit Chainvail and link to the original dossier. For commercial syndication, contact our editorial desk via /contact.
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