IC3 Complaint Worksheet: What to Gather Before You File (Crypto and Online Fraud)
Prepare every field the FBI's IC3 asks for — losses, transaction hashes, subject details, headers — then file one complete complaint and keep your copy.
This worksheet is for the United States FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), for people who are victims with a US nexus or who choose to file there. It is not a general requirement for every victim worldwide. This page is not legal advice and not a recovery service. It does not replace IC3, local law enforcement, your bank, or your exchange, and it does not promise that money will be frozen, returned, or traced to a person. Do not paste government ID images, seed phrases, private keys, or API keys into any AI tool. Mithril will not help you access someone else's account or system. This page is not affiliated with the FBI or IC3 and does not use their seals ([privacy policy](https://www.ic3.gov/Home/Privacy), checked 2026-10-02).
## What you can finish here
Copy the worksheet, fill the fields you actually have, file once at [www.ic3.gov](https://www.ic3.gov/) ([complaint.ic3.gov](https://complaint.ic3.gov/) also opened on 2026-10-02), and save or print the confirmation page. The fields follow what IC3's pages say they ask for. They are not a scrape of the live form, and they do not promise that an agency will open a case.
## What IC3 is
IC3's FAQ says anyone affected by a cyber-enabled crime may file, including from another country, and that you may file for someone else. Analysts review complaints and forward them to law enforcement and partner agencies as appropriate. IC3 does not investigate and does not give status. For a time-sensitive matter, contact local law enforcement. For immediate danger, call 911 or local police ([IC3 FAQ](https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FAQ), checked 2026-10-02).
The FAQ says the value of a complaint depends on accuracy and completeness. Terms printed on the pages checked 2026-10-02 say the information should be true to the best of your knowledge, and that false information could bring a fine, imprisonment, or both under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. Do not invent a name, an address, or a hash.
## The worksheet
Select each block and copy it into a document you control. The first data row in the transaction block is fictional. It is not a real transfer. Replace it with your own rows, or delete it before you file.
### You (the complainant)
IC3's FAQ lists the complainant's name, address, telephone, and email. It says this is the person affected by the crime. If you are filing for someone else, it says you provide your own contact information separately.
```text
Complainant name:
Complainant address:
Complainant telephone:
Complainant email:
Filing for someone else? (yes/no):
Your own name, telephone, and email if you are not the complainant:
```
### Money
The FAQ asks for the total amount of loss to the complainant, and for each transaction: account information, transaction date and amount, and who received the money.
```text
Total loss (state the currency):
Transaction number:
Date and time (include the time zone shown on the receipt):
Amount:
Account or method you used (bank, card, exchange, app):
Who received it (name on the account, or the identifier shown to you):
Your note (what you were told this payment was for):
```
Copy the transaction block once per payment. A bank wire, a card payment, and a cryptocurrency send are separate rows even if they were part of one conversation.
### Cryptocurrency transactions
The FAQ points cryptocurrency transactions to the [IC3 Cryptocurrency page](https://www.ic3.gov/CrimeInfo/Cryptocurrency). Checked 2026-10-02, that page lists addresses, amounts and types, hashes, and dates and times. The 2023 PSA calls those four items the most important information and says its sample table is not a real address or transaction. This worksheet does not copy that sample ([PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/psa230824), checked 2026-10-02).
The 2023 PSA says to include transaction details even when you are unsure they matter, and to file with whatever you have if you lack them. The Cryptocurrency page says to file even when there was no financial loss.
```text
Crypto transaction number:
Date and time, with time zone:
Amount and coin type (example shape, fictional: 0.01 EXAMPLE-COIN):
Recipient address (copy from your own receipt; do not guess):
Sending address, if your receipt shows one:
Transaction ID / hash (fictional placeholder only: EXAMPLE-NOT-A-REAL-TXID):
Exchange or app you used to send or receive:
What the other person said this transfer was for:
```
Editor's suggestion: copy the transaction ID and destination from your own exchange or wallet history. You may look at a public record of your own transfer. This page names no block explorer and does not describe operating anyone else's wallet.
### The other side
The FAQ asks for the subject's name, address, telephone, email, website, and IP address. The 2023 PSA also asks for names, emails, and phone numbers from your communications, and for domains, websites, or apps they told you to use. Write only what you were shown. Leave IP blank if you do not already have it. This page does not explain how to look one up.
```text
Names or handles they used:
Phone numbers:
Email addresses:
Websites or apps they told you to use:
IP address, only if you already have it:
Usernames on the platform where you met:
Any company or agency they claimed to represent:
```
### What happened
The FAQ asks what happened. The 2023 PSA asks how you met, your communications, any two-factor or one-time passcode information, the exchanges you used, and a timeline.
```text
Where and how you first met (platform and date):
What they asked you to do:
Communications you still have (email, text, app) and the evidence label you gave each file:
Any two-factor or one-time passcode they asked for (write that they asked; do not write the code itself if it is still live):
Exchanges or banks involved:
Timeline (first contact, each payment, the day you could not withdraw, any later demand):
```
Fictional shape only, not a case: "2026-10-02, EXAMPLE APP, handle ExampleUser said a fee was required. No further payment was sent. Evidence E-01." Delete that sentence before you file.
### Email headers
IC3's FAQ says there is no spam-forwarding address. Copy the entire email, including the header, into the complaint. This page does not copy vendor click-paths. [Gmail](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/29436) and [Outlook](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/view-internet-message-headers-in-outlook-cd039382-dc6e-4264-ac74-c048563d212c) help pages for full headers opened on 2026-10-02. An Apple Mail URL did not show those steps in the page retrieved that day, so it is not linked.
```text
Paste the entire email below, including the header, when you file.
Do not paste passwords, seed phrases, or images of identity documents.
(blank)
```
## If something is missing
File with what you have. The 2023 PSA says to report even without transaction information, and to include details when you are unsure they matter. Write "unknown" instead of a guess. The line below is an editor's label, not an IC3 field name.
```text
Still missing (editor's label, not an IC3 field):
```
## File once, and keep the copy
IC3's FAQ says a filed complaint cannot be canceled. New facts mean a new complaint that says it adds to the earlier one. The confirmation page is the only chance to save or print your copy; IC3 will not email one. The on-screen message says the complaint will be reviewed and that you will be contacted if more information is needed. That is not investigative status. The FAQ says IC3 does not provide status.
Editor's suggestion: finish this worksheet before you open the form, and keep a copy outside the account you are worried about.
## Also report, when it applies
IC3 says to contact local law enforcement for a time-sensitive matter, and to call 911 or local police for immediate danger. Your exchange, bank, or card issuer is a separate call about the account you used. For identity theft, [IdentityTheft.gov](https://www.identitytheft.gov/) opened on 2026-10-02. This article does not summarize that site.
People aged 60 or older can contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311 for help filing an IC3 complaint. That number is printed on IC3's Cryptocurrency page (checked 2026-10-02). It is a help line for filing, not a recovery desk.
## What not to pay for, and what not to do
The 2023 PSA says anyone claiming they can recover your funds may be running another scam. The Cryptocurrency page warns about recovery services that charge an up-front fee. A [June 24, 2024 PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240624) says law enforcement does not charge a fee to investigate, and that a claimed FBI affiliation can be checked with your local FBI field office. An [August 13, 2025 PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250813) describes later approaches, including people posing as lawyers. An [April 18, 2025 PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250418) says IC3 will not contact you by phone, email, or app to recover funds or to request payment. An [August 1, 2024 PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240801) says to verify a supposed exchange employee on the exchange's own number. All four were checked 2026-10-02. Do not send a new fee or identity documents to someone offering to get the money back.
Accessing someone else's account, wallet, or system without permission can be illegal. This page does not explain how, and Mithril will not help. If you are unsure, ask law enforcement or a lawyer. Reading your own receipts is a different act from entering someone else's account.
## If you are not in the United States
IC3's FAQ says a person in another country may file. That filing does not replace police or the exchange where you live. In Japan: use the Japanese timeline and evidence list, "[アカウントを乗っ取られたら](https://blog.mithril.fund/account-takeover-timeline-evidence-list)", or the remittance table, "[送金一覧表](https://blog.mithril.fund/crypto-fraud-remittance-table)". Other countries were not researched for this page.
## Questions
**Q: What information should I gather before filing an IC3 complaint?**
IC3 asks for your contact details; the loss amount and each transaction's date, amount, account and recipient; details about the other party such as names, phone, email, website and IP address; a description of what happened; and email headers if you have them. For cryptocurrency, the FBI says the most important details are the addresses, the amount and type of coin, the date and time, and the transaction ID (hash), plus how you first met the scammer, your communications, any domains or apps they told you to use, any two-factor or one-time-passcode information, the exchanges involved, and a timeline (sources: [IC3 FAQ](https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FAQ) and the [FBI IC3 cryptocurrency PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/psa230824), checked 2026-10-02). The [Cryptocurrency page](https://www.ic3.gov/CrimeInfo/Cryptocurrency), checked the same day, repeats those transaction fields and says to file even with no loss. If you don't have every detail, IC3 says to file anyway with what you have.
**Q: Can I add information to an IC3 complaint after I file?**
Not by editing it. IC3's FAQ says a filed complaint cannot be cancelled and that you should file a new complaint stating it adds information to the earlier one. It also says the confirmation page is the only time you can keep a copy of your report, so save or print it before closing (IC3 FAQ, checked 2026-10-02).
**Q: Does IC3 investigate my case or recover my money?**
IC3's FAQ says it does not conduct investigations or provide investigative status. Reports are reviewed by analysts and forwarded to law enforcement and partner agencies as appropriate, and anyone with a time-sensitive matter should contact local law enforcement directly. The FBI's 2023 crypto PSA warns that anyone claiming they can recover your funds may be another scam. Nothing on this page changes that.
## Today
Copy the blocks, delete the fictional row, fill what you have, then file once and save the confirmation page. The only Mithril step on this page is that copying.
[Trust Center](https://mithril.fund/trust/) and [Terms of Service](https://mithril.fund/legal/terms/) opened on 2026-10-02. They are not legal advice. Sources checked the same day: [IC3 FAQ](https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FAQ), [2023 cryptocurrency PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/psa230824), [IC3 Cryptocurrency page](https://www.ic3.gov/CrimeInfo/Cryptocurrency), [IC3 privacy policy](https://www.ic3.gov/Home/Privacy), [June 24, 2024 PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240624), [August 1, 2024 PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240801), [April 18, 2025 PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250418), [August 13, 2025 PSA](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250813).