Crypto and informal investment scams in Peru: who to report to

Why this guide starts with a warning, not a solution

If you lost money on a crypto exchange that disappeared, a “trader” who promised fixed returns, or an informal investment scheme that stopped paying out, you have probably already tried to complain to Indecopi, the SBS, or the SMV and gotten no response, or been told it’s “not within the jurisdiction” of that agency. That is not your mistake, nor a failure of this page: in Peru, crypto assets and informal investment schemes fall, in most cases, outside the regulatory perimeter of the three agencies that normally protect consumers and savers. This guide explains exactly why, and what the real path forward looks like.

Why Indecopi usually has no jurisdiction

Indecopi protects consumers in consumer relationships with a “proveedor” (provider) — a company offering goods or services within a regulated market (retail, telecommunications, regulated financial services, tourism, etc.). The problem is that most crypto exchanges and informal-scheme promoters do not fit that category: they are not registered as providers of a regulated financial service, and many are not even formally incorporated in Peru. When the relationship is, in essence, the purchase of an unregulated speculative asset or handing money to a scheme with no legal backing, Indecopi generally concludes that the case falls outside its jurisdiction.

There’s one nuance: if the fraud involved misleading advertising by a company that does qualify as a “proveedor” in another line of business (for example, a company selling courses or services that used that pretext to collect money to “invest in crypto”), there might be a narrow angle for a complaint about misleading advertising or false information regarding that specific service. But this depends heavily on the facts and should not be assumed as a general rule.

What the SBS and SMV actually say

The Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores (SMV) has published public warning notices since at least 2021, stating verbatim: “There is no specific regulation in Peru that backs the offer or promotion of cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies, or units of value called ‘tokens’, which are not backed by any financial authority.” In March 2025, the SMV reiterated this position and publicly warned about “the risk of technological fraud and scams” associated with unregulated cryptocurrency offerings.

It’s important to understand what this means: a public warning is not supervision. The SMV does not authorize, register, or sanction crypto platforms as such — it only warns the public that they act at their own risk.

For its part, the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS), through Resolution No. 02648-2024 (July 30, 2024), did introduce a rule applicable to “Virtual Asset Service Providers” (PSAV) operating in Peru — but exclusively for anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing purposes, under supervision of the UIF-Perú (Peru’s financial intelligence unit). The rule itself states that it does not regulate the technology underlying virtual assets or the PSAVs’ activities or operations; its scope is the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing. In other words: the SBS can require an exchange to report suspicious transactions, but that does not give the SBS jurisdiction to resolve your complaint if that platform disappears with your money or deliberately defrauds you.

When there might be a regulatory angle: an unregistered public securities offering

If the scheme you invested in had the structure of a “securities” offering — for example, it promised a fixed or variable return in exchange for your money, with a third party managing the investment (the classic pattern of an “investment contract,” similar to the Howey test used in other jurisdictions, though Peru does not have an identical test) — it may have constituted an unregistered public offering of securities in the Public Securities Market Registry, which does fall within the SMV’s jurisdiction for purposes of sanctioning the issuer for operating without authorization. This does not mean the SMV will return your money, but it does mean there is a path to report the promoter’s conduct to an agency with jurisdiction over that specific infraction.

The criminal route: when fraud charges apply

When the deception was deliberate — a false identity, promised returns that were never realistic, the promoter suddenly disappearing, unjustified blocking of withdrawals — the conduct can fall under the crime of estafa (fraud) under Article 196 of the Criminal Code, which punishes anyone who obtains an unlawful benefit by inducing or keeping the victim in error through deception. Depending on the number of victims and the method used, other related criminal offenses might also apply (for example, aggravated fraud or offenses tied to a criminal organization in large-scale pyramid schemes).

The complaint is filed with the Fiscalía Provincial Penal (provincial criminal prosecutor’s office) in your district, or at a police station (which forwards it). It’s essential to bring as much evidence as possible: screenshots, transfer receipts, blockchain transaction hashes, messages, and any written promises of returns.

The honest reality: for many victims, there is nowhere effective to turn

We need to be direct: for a significant share of victims of crypto scams or informal investment schemes, there is currently no administrative regulator in Peru that will accept and effectively resolve their complaint. The criminal route is real and legitimate, but it has serious practical limitations: long processes, the need to identify the person responsible (difficult when they operate from abroad or anonymously), and civil restitution that depends on the convicted person having identifiable assets to collect from. This honesty is intentional: we would rather tell you the truth about the regulatory gap than point you toward procedures that are unlikely to lead anywhere.

What you can do in the meantime

Even without a clear regulator, you can still: (1) file a criminal complaint so there is an official record of the incident, which helps if other victims report the same person and cases get consolidated; (2) check whether the scheme involved an unregistered public securities offering and report it to the SMV; (3) warn other potential victims through social media or the press, documenting carefully to avoid defamation exposure; and (4) consult a criminal defense/victims’ lawyer about the specifics of your case before spending money on legal actions that may not be effective.