Crypto Investment Scam Recovery: Letter of Demand (Australia)

Crypto investment scams take many forms. Anonymous Telegram “advisors”, fake exchanges, pig-butchering relationship scams and rug-pull tokens all share one feature: most are run by anonymous offshore operators who are effectively untouchable.

This is the most important article in our scam-recovery series for one reason: we will not pretend a Letter of Demand can recover money from an anonymous offshore scammer. It cannot. But there is a narrower scenario where it can help.

The legal context

If the scheme was promoted, sold or operated by an identifiable Australian — a registered company, a person with an AFSL or pretending to have one, a financial influencer with a public footprint — multiple Australian regimes apply. ASIC enforces the Corporations Act and ASIC Act prohibitions on misleading conduct and unlicensed financial services. The Australian Consumer Law applies to non-financial-product representations. Common-law deceit applies in any event.

Lodge a report with ASIC’s misconduct portal and Scamwatch. Cybercrime referrals go through ReportCyber.

Realistic outcomes

Be honest with yourself: if you sent crypto to a wallet given to you by an anonymous Telegram contact, the money is gone. No letter of demand reaches a person you cannot name and serve. ASIC and AFP can act against the scheme infrastructure but rarely recover individual funds.

If, however, the promoter is an Australian — including the growing number of unlicensed “crypto coaches” and influencers operating without an AFSL — a Letter of Demand to them is a separate option. AFCA cannot deal with an unlicensed promoter; it handles complaints against your own bank or another licensed financial firm.

The document approach

The written demand goes to your own bank, the one the money left from on its way to the exchange or wallet. It sets out the representations made to you, each payment and when you reported the scam, and asks the bank to reimburse you within 30 days, citing its scam obligations. If the bank refuses or does not respond in time, the next step is a complaint to AFCA about the bank. Report the promoter to ASIC in parallel.

What Claim Done delivers

For a flat fee, Claim Done drafts a written demand to your own bank to reimburse you, citing its scam obligations (the ePayments Code, the Banking Code of Practice and, where it applies, the Scams Prevention Framework), plus an AFCA complaint if the bank refuses. If the promoter is an identifiable Australian, a Letter of Demand to them is a separate option.

What to expect after

Report to ASIC, Scamwatch and ReportCyber regardless of recovery prospects — your report contributes to enforcement action against the scheme. If you used a credit card, lodge a chargeback. If you sent crypto from a regulated Australian exchange, report it there too.