A message claims investigators found your money after a broker called BELTradeLTD converted fiat to crypto, froze 0.34 BTC under US statutes, and will release it once you “provide a hash function”, match “script codes”, and buy a few hundred dollars of crypto on a lookalike Coinbase domain such as co-in-base.io so a script can be generated for AML. Deadlines cite the Fourth Amendment and seventy-two-hour limits.
None of that is how US seizures or Coinbase work. The real Coinbase site is coinbase.com; hyphenated clones are phishing. Hash functions are cryptographic maths, not a form you purchase to free a broker balance. The only working part of the letter is the request for another payment.
Ignore it, keep the email headers, and use Get help. Type coinbase.com yourself if you use that exchange — never a hyphenated clone — and read Fake recovery.
If this matches something you have been offered, start at Get help. If someone is already pitching “recovery”, read Fake recovery before you pay another fee.
This article is for general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. Details change. If you have lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and use the routes on the help pages.