How to report a scam

If you believe you've fallen victim to a scam, the first thing you should do is follow the steps detailed in our I've been hacked/scammed article.

In short, you need to remove any remaining funds from your compromised wallet (to a new or existing wallet that is secure) and make sure the scammer can't access any other sensitive personal or financial information on your device, whether related to MetaMask or not.

Once you've prevented any further loss of funds, you should:

1. Get in touch with MetaMask Support to notify us of details such as:

• The suspected scammer's public address
• The website, email or other medium through which the scam reached you.

2. Report the scammer's public address on the block explorer. On Etherscan:

   info

   As most block explorers share similar architecture, you can also do this on other networks — BSCScan, PolygonScan, Snowtrace, etc.

   1. Open the address on Etherscan. The URL will read etherscan.io/address/xyz, where xyz is the address.
   2. Locate the 'More Info' section on the right, near the top of the page.
   3. Click the dropdown menu marked 'More' and select 'Report/Flag Address':

   

   4. Complete the Etherscan form.

   If the block explorer concludes, after investigation, that the address shows signs of fraudulent activity, it will be flagged — helping other network users to exercise caution in future.

3. Alert the local cybercrime authority. Although we can't maintain an exhaustive list, we've detailed a few below:

   • United States: the FBI's IC3 service
   • European Union: Europol portal (redirects to your chosen country)
   • United Kingdom: Action Fraud
   • Philippines: CICC form
   • Brazil: This varies depending on state. You will likely have to contact your state's specialized cyber crime unit, potentially in person.
   • Indonesia: Directorate of Cyber Crime (Patroli Siber)

Remember: as transactions on the blockchain are irreversible, MetaMask cannot retrieve your funds for you. Even if this were not the case, we wouldn't be able to anyway: as a self-custodial wallet, we do not have access to or control over your Secret Recovery Phrase — only you do. This means you're the only one who can manage the funds in your wallet.