Case Facts:
An innovative cryptocurrency fraud was the topic of numerous complaints to the FBI’s Web Crime Problem Center (IC 3 previously this year. A “pig-butchering” strategy, which is a severe method where lawbreakers acquire count on by posing as charming companions or financial experts before encouraging individuals to buy fraudulent platforms, expense sufferers, who were mostly targeted via social networks, almost $ 2 3 million in Ethereum (ETH). By July 2025, 47 sufferers had been ripped off, and the FBI’s Virtual Assets Unit called me in to help trace the taken funds.
Right here’s what we found and how we did it– a roadmap for LEAs dealing with comparable cases.
Just how We Examined
Our group utilized a mix of blockchain sleuthing, online investigator work, and excellent old-fashioned evidence collection.
Here’s the failure:
Blockchain Tracking: We used devices like Chainalysis Reactor and Merkle Scientific research Tracker to comply with the cash throughout the Ethereum blockchain and past.
Purse Clustering: By analyzing deal patterns, we organized wallets managed by the very same offenders.
Online Reconnaissance: We combed social networks, online forums, and darknet websites to attach budgets to real individuals.
Exchange Data: Subpoenas …