Crypto Firms Launch Community-Powered Scam Reporting Platform 'Chainabuse'

Several crypto firms, including Binance and Circle, have launched a new crypto scam reporting platform. The tool “empowers anyone in the crypto economy to warn others about scams, hacks or other fraudulent activity as they encounter it.”

New Crypto Scam Reporting Platform Launched

A number of crypto firms have joined forces and launched a new, multi-chain scam reporting platform. TRM Labs, Circle, Solana Foundation, the Aave Companies, Hedera, Binance.us, and Civic announced last week “the launch of a new community-powered scam reporting platform, Chainabuse.”

The platform, operated by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, “empowers anyone in the crypto economy to warn others about scams, hacks or other fraudulent activity as they encounter it,” the announcement details, elaborating:

The free tool enables crypto users, victims of financial crimes, and crypto businesses to take an active role in making the crypto ecosystem a safer place to operate.

Currently, users can file reports under Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Hedera, Binance Smart Chain, and Tron. Reports can be upvoted and downvoted. Other platform users can also leave comments to contribute additional information.

The announcement describes:

Reports on the same addresses or entities are consolidated and housed in a searchable database, which anyone can use to proactively check addresses or projects before engaging with them.

At the time of writing, there are 624 reports showing on the platform, including over 100 scams related to Ukraine’s crypto fundraising campaigns.

Chainabuse explained that it does not file reports with law enforcement on behalf of users, emphasizing that the purpose of filing a report is primarily to alert others to the scam. However, the platform’s FAQ page explains:

Filing a report on Chainabuse may help surface multiple victims of the same scam and provides victims the ability to opt in to contact from law enforcement.

“We encourage all victims of cryptocurrency exploits to consider filing a report with the FBI’s IC3, Europol or the relevant law enforcement agency in their jurisdiction,” the Chainabuse team noted.