What to save, and how to save it

Preserve first, organize later. It is far better to keep everything in a slightly chaotic folder than to decide in advance what is relevant — the items that turn out to matter are frequently not the ones that seem important now.

Communications

• Emails — keep the originals in the mailbox, and export them with headers intact where you can
• WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal conversations — use the app’s own export function rather than screenshots; it preserves timestamps and order
• SMS messages and the telephone numbers they came from
• In-platform chat with account managers or “support”
• Voice notes and voicemail
• Recorded calls, where the recording was lawfully made in your jurisdiction
• Social media, dating app or forum messages, including the profile itself before it is deleted

The platform and the account

• Screenshots of your account showing balance, positions and profit — with the date visible
• The full trade or transaction history, exported from the platform if it allows it
• Screenshots of every withdrawal request: the request itself, any confirmation, and any refusal
• The website as it appeared to you — the homepage, the about page, any regulatory claims and any license or certificate displayed
• The exact website addresses used, including any that changed during the relationship
• Any mobile or desktop application you were asked to install, and the link or instructions you were sent

Money

• Bank statements covering every transfer, in and out
• Wire instructions and the beneficiary details exactly as given to you
• Card statements and any chargeback correspondence
• Cryptocurrency transaction hashes, and the wallet addresses you sent from and to
• Records from the exchange where you bought or held cryptocurrency
• Receipts or confirmations for every fee, tax or clearance payment demanded — and the message demanding it

The people and the paperwork

• Names, titles, telephone numbers and email addresses used by everyone you dealt with
• The company name, registration number and address as given to you
• Any license, certificate, regulator reference or award the firm relied on
• Client agreements, terms and conditions, and anything you were asked to sign or accept
• Invoices, contracts, and any document that arrived as a PDF
• Correspondence with your bank, the platform, a regulator or the police

How to save it, in practical terms

• Export rather than screenshot wherever the application offers it. An export keeps timestamps, sender identity and sequence; a screenshot keeps an image.
• Keep the originals. Do not delete an email after saving a copy, and do not clear a chat after exporting it. The original file, in the original account, is worth more than any copy.
• Do not edit anything. No cropping, no annotating, no redacting the original. Make a separate marked-up copy if you want to explain something.
• Capture live pages now. If the platform or website is still online, save the pages today. A site that disappears next month is evidence you have; a description of it is not.
• Write down the chronology while you remember it. Dates, amounts, who said what. Memory of a sequence fades much faster than people expect, and a dated note made now is useful later.
• Back it up twice. One copy on a device, one somewhere else. Phones get replaced and accounts get locked.
• Keep your account access. Do not close the email address or the exchange account the fraud ran through, even if you no longer use it — the records live there.

What not to do