Crypto Lost to a Voice-Phishing Scam Is Now Covered From October 1: Payment Freezes, a Choice Between Assets and Cash, and Why Fake Goods-and-Services Scams Are Still Excluded

The law now covers "victim assets", not just "victim money"

The amended act widens protection from cash to victim assets. Tricking someone into transferring virtual assets, or taking over a device that stores them, is now within its scope.
Crypto exchanges are also being put under duties close to those of banks, including monitoring suspicious transactions and freezing payments. Reports say exchange accounts used in a scam can now be frozen and entered into the refund process.

The timeline: the amended act was promulgated on March 31, 2026, and the Financial Services Commission ran a 40-day public comment period on the enforcement decree from July 15 to August 24. The effective date is October 1.
Only about three weeks have passed since then, so operating details may still be updated by the authorities. Check the latest guidance once more before you apply.

Some scams are covered and some are not

Scams that pose as offering, arranging or brokering a loan are reported to be included.
By contrast, acts that pretend to supply goods or services are still outside the law. Used-goods sales and fake construction contracts that take money and disappear are examples.
Which side your case falls on decides what relief is open, so describe the exact method when you report to the police or the Financial Supervisory Service.

First step: ask for a payment freeze

Virtual assets move between wallets within minutes, so how fast you report largely decides the outcome.
Reporting channels cited are the exchange you sent from, the National Police Agency's cybercrime reporting system and the Financial Supervisory Service at 1332. Before you call, capture the time of the transfer, the asset type and amount, the receiving wallet address and the transaction record screen.
For app-based transfers see easy-transfer payment freezes. The steps for a bank transfer are in our guide on freezing payment first after a voice-phishing transfer.

Refunds can come in kind or as cash

The enforcement decree proposed by the FSC says victim assets are refunded by amount if they are money and by type and quantity if they are virtual assets.
For victims with no trading experience, a designated institution will sell the recovered virtual assets on their behalf and pay out cash. When money and virtual assets are mixed, reports say the size of the refund is set by value at the market price at the time of the freeze.
Prices keep moving, so if you take the assets in kind, later price changes are yours to bear. Weigh that when you choose.

The process follows the same outline as bank-account cases

It is described as: apply for relief, payment freeze, extinguishment of the claim on the account, then refund. Reports say damage that occurred before the effective date is also covered by the amended provisions.
For bank transfers, the benchmarks were 3 business days to apply for relief, a 2-month public notice and a 14-day refund decision. I could not confirm that the same periods apply to virtual assets. The earlier benchmarks are in the guide linked above.

Anyone offering to "recover it for you" may be a second scam

Once a loss becomes known, people appear who promise blockchain analysis for an upfront fee, or who ask for your private key or seed phrase. All of these are flagged as signs of a second scam.
The official route is a report, a payment freeze and a refund application, not paying a fee to get your money back. For a suspicious phone number, you can ask for service suspension through the 112 and 118 reports.

Summary of the order, and what this guide could not confirm

The order: 1) ask the exchange and 112 or 1332 for a payment freeze and report, 2) keep screenshots of the transfer, 3) choose how to be refunded (in kind or cash), 4) refuse anyone who asks for a fee.
This guide relies on the decree's public notice and news reports on the effective date. We could not confirm the name of the designated institution, its fees or the application deadline for virtual-asset damage, so check them with the FSS at 1332 or the Financial Services Commission. This is general information and does not judge whether a particular case will be refunded or replace legal advice.