What is account hopping?¶

Account hopping is movement through a sequence of accounts or payment services. It can increase distance from the source and frustrate recovery, but each transfer must be interpreted before inferring concealment.

A hop can change provider, form or controller¶

Value may pass from bank to wallet, prepaid product, exchange or associate. Fees, conversions, splitting, mixed balances and cash withdrawal mean the amount can change. Some hops are provider routing rather than user instructions, and several accounts may share one controller.

Build the sequence from stable identifiers¶

For each hop record source, destination, provider, amount, currency, time, reference, status, fee and conversion. Establish whether accounts were newly created or previously linked and compare endpoints, networks, beneficiaries and communications.

Report observed hops separately from conclusions about dissipation, coordination or deliberate disguise. Legitimate movement between personal, business, savings or family accounts remains a possible explanation where supported.