- Metamask has partnered with Asset Reality to help scam and theft victims recover their funds
- Asset Reality will use blockchain forensics to track stolen assets pursuant to recovery action
- The partnership is the first of its kind and will be free to Metamask users
Crypto wallet giant Metamask has announced a partnership with asset management and recovery service Asset Reality to help victims of scams trace their funds. Typically, scam and theft victims have no idea where their funds go, and certainly very few ways of getting them back, and the Metamask/Asset Reality partnership is the first of its kind. The service, which will be free for Metamask users, will likely not be able to actively collect any lost funds, but the information could prove very useful in assisting law enforcement and later asset recovery attempts.
Today we’re happy to announce that we’ve partnered with Asset Reality (@asset_reality) to give victims of cryptocurrency scams a chance at recovering funds that have been stolen.
1/ 🧵
— MetaMask 🦊💙 (@MetaMask) May 26, 2022
More Power to Scam Victims
Typically, victims of crypto scams or thefts have very little power in recovering their assets. The Metamask/Asset Reality partnership aims to change that, urging all hack and theft victims to file reports so that Asset Reality can assess patterns and even potentially get scams closed down.
In a press release announcing the partnership, Metamask founder Dan Finlay extolled the virtues of group action:
Through this industry-leading partnership with Asset Reality, ConsenSys and MetaMask want to allow victims to join together, build cases against these scam operations and bring them to justice. It’s really important that victims of hacks come forward, no matter how small. They could reveal or be the starting point of a wider investigation and create the opportunity to aggregate claims to commence potential legal action.
Metamask Support Will Act as Portal
Victims of a scam or theft involving their Metamask wallet will report the incident through Metamask support, which will interview all similarly affected users and pass the details onto Asset Reality, who will take over the investigation and try to track the destination of the stolen funds.
Asset Reality’s abilities will typically extend as far as data collection (unless a means of collecting the stolen funds presents itself), but their efforts may help with any law enforcement action down the road. The service will be free for Metamask users, but Asset Reality states that victims “might still need to cover legal costs if they decide that pursuing recovery makes economic sense for them.”
