FBI 'kill chain' process gives hope to scam victims
This phony text was received Monday in Detroit. one older adult almost lost more than $50,000 to a scam in 2025 after replying to a fake apple-elated text, according to a Federal Trade Commission report.
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson speaks as vice President JD Vance at an oct. 8 news conference on anti-fraud initiatives in the Eisenhower executive office building on the White House campus in Washington.
Consumers who were 60 and older lost $3 billion to fraud last year — and likely far more than that because many losses go unreported, according a recent Federal Trade Commission annual report to Congress.
The reported dollars lost to scammers are staggering — up 25% from 2024 and up 400% from 2020. Much of that jump is attributed to thieves nabbing $100,000 or more through elaborate investment scams, romance scams and impersonation schemes.
Almost scammed
Deep in the FTC report was how a little-known process saved one person from losing $51,000.
The older adult received a spoofed text message from Apple Support in August 2025. It claimed the consumer charged $500 to their credit card and provided a link.
However, no suspicious charge existed. Apple does not send text messages to people about suspicious activity with Apple Pay.
Scammers convinced the victim that someone from Apple Support knew the consumer was being investigated by the FBI. The person was then instructed to send a $52,000 wire transfer along with other smaller bitcoin ATM transfers in order to verify their identity.
The frightened consumer sent a $52,000 wire transfer to a domestic U.S. bank that held a custodial account for Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange.
At some point, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center Recovery Asset Team, known as IC3 RAT, turned on its “kill chain” and worked with banking partners and Coinbase to freeze more than $51,000.
The report didn’t elaborate on exactly how the process worked, and the FBI and the FTC declined to offer more details about the specific case to the Detroit Free Press.
The kill chain process can help some scam victims who report troubles early on. It wasn’t clear if the victim in the report called the FTC Consumer Response Center at 877-382-4357 or filed a report on the agency’s website.
FBI referrals
The FTC refers consumer reports involving “high dollar losses” it receives to the IC3 RAT, according to the FTC’s Oct. 19 report to Congress. Referrals take place if the report meets certain criteria and the consumer agrees to the referral.
The best chance consumers have to potentially stop a transfer is to notify their financial institution, bank, broker, or gift card issuer as soon as possible, the FTC said in an email response to the Detroit Free Press.
“Promptly reporting a scam to ReportFraud. ftc.gov helps consumers more than they might realize because the FTC uses the information and shares reports with our law enforcement partners to help with investigations,” the agency said.
Scammers demand their victims use payment methods such as bank transfers, cryptocurrency, bitcoin ATMs, gift cards and wire transfers to move money quickly and make it harder to trace and cancel. That makes it hard to get your money back once you send it to scammers.
“We can’t resolve your individual report,” the FTC site notes, “but we use reports to investigate and bring cases against fraud, scams, and bad business practices.”
Last year, the FTC referred 680 reports through its Consumer Sentinel Network to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as IC3.
Of those 680 reports, 451 were sent directly to the FBI center to trigger the Financial Fraud Kill Chain. The FBI center was able to act on 200 of those complaints referred by the FTC that fell within the criteria.
Those 200 reports alone involved more than $18.7 million in potential losses — on average $93,500 each. The FBI center’s process was able to freeze more than $10.8 million with assistance from banking partners after FTC referrals.
Agencies impersonated
The FBI IC3 received more than 1 million complaints involving more than $20.8 billion in losses last year — up 26% from 2024. The average loss was $20,699.
The FBI warns of fraud schemes where criminal scammers impersonate IC3 employees to ask for information and money. “If you are approached by someone impersonating or claiming to work with IC3 or find a website impersonating the IC3, please file a complaint with the information. Be sure to include the website link in your complaint,” the agency said.
If you're being scammed, contact your bank immediately, go to the FBI at www.ic3.gov and ReportFraud. ftc.gov to report fraud, and file a report with your police department. Acting quickly is essential, especially if you've wired the money.
The FBI also recommends that consumers who discover a fraudulent transfer should immediately contact their financial institution and request a recall of the funds along with any necessary indemnification documents.
The FBI IC3 RAT, formed in 2018, initiated the kill chain for 3,900 incidents in total last year. With banking partners' assistance, the FBI worked to freeze $679 million of the $1.16 billion reported losses, according to the FBI's latest Internet Crime Report.
The FBI report highlighted that 642 of the Financial Fraud Kill Chain incidents initiated last year involved victims aged 60 and older. The total reported loss in that group was almost $65.4 million, and the fraud kill chain process was able to assist in freezing more than $32.8 million.
Many of those scammed were hit by tech support scams, account takeovers, business email compromise scams and investment-related fraud, often involving cryptocurrency.
Victims 60 or older who need assistance filing an IC3 complaint can contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline weekdays at 833-372-8311. Case managers can provide direct support, help organize reporting documentation and connect victims with resources.
