Crypto Exchange Account Hacked, Phished, or Locked? The Complete Recovery Guide

What should you do if your crypto exchange account is hacked, phished, or unexpectedly locked? Fast action can reduce losses and improve the chances of recovering access. This guide explains the most common causes of account compromise and restrictions, including phishing, SIM-swapping, malware, credential theft, suspicious logins, KYC reviews, regulatory holds, and platform security controls. It provides step-by-step recovery guidance, including freezing the account, securing your email and devices, changing passwords, enabling app-based or hardware two-factor authentication, revoking unknown sessions, and contacting official exchange support. The guide also covers recovery procedures for Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, Gemini, and other major platforms. Readers will learn how to collect transaction IDs, login records, screenshots, and communication logs for support or law enforcement. Preventive measures include withdrawal whitelists, password managers, hardware security keys, phishing alerts, limited API permissions, and cold storage for larger holdings.