What is account hopping?¶

Account hopping is the movement of money through a sequence of accounts or payment services, often in a short period.

Avoid the dangerous assumption¶

The dangerous assumption is that every transfer to another account proves deliberate concealment or that each account belongs to a different person.

Funds may move from a bank account to a payment wallet, another bank, a prepaid product, a cryptocurrency exchange or an associate’s account.

The movement can create distance between the original source and final destination.

It can also make recovery harder if the money is split, converted, withdrawn or moved across providers.

Investigators should record each hop separately.

Capture the source account, destination account, amount, currency, timestamp, reference, provider, status and any fee or conversion.

Identify whether each account was newly created, previously linked or controlled from a common device or network.

Account hopping may support an inference of layering, dissipation or coordinated control, but the pattern is not conclusive by itself.

Legitimate users may move money between savings, business, family, investment or payment accounts.

Marketplaces and payment services may also route funds through several internal accounts automatically.

Do not assume that the full amount moved at every stage.

Fees, partial transfers, mixed balances and withdrawals may alter the value.

Communications, device records, beneficiary creation and account-access history may show who directed the sequence.

When reporting, distinguish observed hops from the conclusion that they were designed to disguise criminal property.

Operational takeaway¶

Map every account hop by source, destination, timing, amount and controller before deciding whether the sequence shows ordinary movement, dissipation or deliberate concealment.