1/. Pig butchering scams cost Americans at least $10 billion in 2024 alone, per US authorities. The relationship comes first. The money ask comes months later. Here's how it actually works. 🧵

Happy New Month from ICAR - Cyber Recovery If you've been affected by cybercrime, remember: acting quickly can make all the difference. Here's to a safer, stronger, and more secure August. Happy New Month! 💙 Tracing. Recovering. Protecting.

5/ Red flags: an app not listed on any independent exchange ranker, a balance that only ever rises, and any "fee" required to unlock a withdrawal.

1/ Crypto investment scams caused over $11.3 billion in reported US losses in 2025 — the single largest fraud category the FBI tracked that year. Here's exactly how the scam works, mechanically. 🧵

1/ Investment scams cost victims over $8.6 billion in the US, £221.5 million in the UK, and $837.7 million in Australia in 2025 alone. This isn't a niche risk; it's the #1 fraud category in most Western economies right now. 🧵

2/ BEFORE YOU REPORT preserve this first: → Screenshots ALL communications → Platform URL and dashboard → Every document they sent you → Bank statements with transfer dates/amounts → Crypto transaction IDs and wallet addresses → Scammer's phone numbers, usernames, email. Then report.

1/ Most fraud victims don't know where to report, or they report to the wrong place. Here is the complete guide: exactly where to report cyber fraud in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Save this. Share it. It may be the most useful thread you read this month. 🧵

Fake crypto exchanges don't look fake. They look exactly like Binance, Coinbase, or Kraken. Live market data. FCA branding. Customer support. A professional interface. Here's how they're built and the 7 things that give them away 👇 www.icar-global.org/blog

Recovery is possible when the right action is taken. In this investment scam case, ICAR successfully recovered $194,700 from a total loss of $237,467 through forensic blockchain investigation and coordinated legal action. We'll be sharing the full case study soon..... Stay tuned.

3/ 5 Phases Involved PHASE 1: Map on-chain PHASE 2: Cluster wallets PHASE 3: OSINT Bridge PHASE 4: Legal letter to exchange PHASE 5: Court docs

1/ "Crypto can't be traced." It's a wrong assumption. Here's the 5-phase methodology blockchain investigators use to follow stolen funds. #BlockchainTracing #CryptoFraud #ICAR 🧵

7/ 5 red flags: ⚠ Moved to WhatsApp fast ⚠ Investment via 'trusted' third party ⚠ FCA branding not on register ⚠ Withdrawal blocked — 'compliance' ⚠ Fee required to release funds None felt like flags at the time. That's why it works.

6/ THE TRACE #ICAR engaged Day 6. 12 transactions → blockchain. BTC → USDT-TRC20 within hours. 4 wallet hops. 68% to OKX deposit cluster. Legal letter served → 9-day response. £108,000 frozen. 60% of total loss secured.

1/ A dating app. A widowed named Linda. An investment platform called EdgeStrategies FX. 11 weeks. £180,000 gone. How pig butchering actually works — case study thread. #PigButchering #ICAR 🧵

Have you been a victim of online investment, crypto, or financial scam? ICAR assists victims with: • Documenting fraud cases • Tracing digital asset movements • Preparing reports for authorities & financial institutions for recovery Contact Us 👇 📧 support@icar-global.org

5/ What works: FBI #Recovery Asset Team froze $679M in 2025. 58% success rate. But ONLY when fraud is reported fast. Every hour between discovery and reporting matters

1/ FBI IC3 2025 is out. $20.9 billion in cybercrime losses. 1 million+ complaints. Up 26% on last year. Thread on what the numbers mean. 🧵 #CyberFraud #FBI2025 #ICAR

Crypto Wallet Phishing Scheme Targeting XRP holders Last week i got a lot of DM on X about a coordinated phishing operation targeting cryptocurrency holders (mostly XRP holders in the United States).

Lost funds to a scam? Don’t wait. The earlier you document your evidence, transaction records, screenshots, chats, wallet addresses, and payment details, the better your chances of building a strong recovery case. Scammers move fast. Evidence disappears faster. #ScamAwareness #CryptoScam

3/ Through transaction tracing and analysis, we identified movement of funds connected to IndoDAX, an Indonesian cryptocurrency exchange. A formal report regarding the traced activity has since been submitted to the exchange, and follow-up procedures are currently ongoing.

2/ As part of our investigation, we conducted verification checks on the company’s claimed registration and corporate information. Our findings indicated that the registration details presented by the platform were fraudulent and could not be legitimately verified through the appropriate channels.

1/ Within the past week, a client reported a suspicious investment platform to our team after experiencing withdrawal issues and repeated demands for additional payments. What initially appeared to be a legitimate investment operation quickly raised multiple red flags during our review.

In the private investigation space there are only few actors that you can trust with fraud investigations and expect a true report. Zach is a highly recommended figure in that space. Always follow pages that creates scam awareness and protect yourself with knowledge of scam patterns.

1/ Many scam victims believe agencies like the FBI are “doing nothing” because investigations take time. The reality is that financial recovery and fraud investigations are legal processes, not movie-style hacking operations.

⚠️ Think before you click. Think before you pay. Cybercriminals are using fake payment requests to steal your money 📖 Read more: icar-global.org/blog/online-... 🔐 Protect your money. Protect your identity. #FraudPrevention #OnlineSafety #PaymentScams #CyberAwareness #FinancialSecurity

Threat actors are now weaponizing #Deepfake technology and geo-targeted social media ads that vanish within hours to impersonate trusted financial professionals. We identified over 20 fake #WhatsApp operating under centralized control, funneling victims into coordinated fraud schemes.

Investment scam is the largest single-loss fraud in Australians and the United States, with Australians losing $837.7M and Americans losing $7.9B in 2025. Our investigation uncovered a network of 208 IP-linked fake #crypto platforms generating an estimated over $187M in revenue #FraudInvestigation

🚨 Online payment scams are evolving fast, and scammers are becoming more convincing every day. From fake bank alerts to phishing links and payment fraud. 🔗 Read the full Article Here: icar-global.org/blog/online-... #OnlineScams #CyberSecurity #FinancialSafety #FraudAwareness #ScamAlert

3/ Our forensic analysis traced victim funds through multiple crypto wallets and exchange pathways using blockchain transaction mapping techniques. The assets were ultimately traced into a centralized exchange We reached out to the exchange and they are in full compliance so far (more details soon)

2/ 🚩 Red flags identified: • Newly registered domain • No verifiable regulatory presence • Fake/traced addresses • Simulated account dashboard • Little to no legitimate social footprint Classic indicators of a fraudulent operation.