In investment and fake AI trading scams, stolen funds are typically moved through a structured laundering path designed to create distance from the victim and reduce traceability. After victims send crypto or bank transfers to scam-controlled accounts, the money is quickly transferred into secondary wallets or mule accounts, often within minutes.

Scammers frequently split large amounts into smaller transactions, route them through multiple wallet layers, and convert assets across different cryptocurrencies to blur the trail. In crypto-based schemes, funds may pass through decentralized exchanges, cross-chain bridges, and high-volume swap activity to disguise origin and ownership patterns.

In bank-based cases, funds are often routed through networks of intermediary accounts or shell entities before being withdrawn or converted. Many organized scam groups use automated scripts and pre-built wallet chains to standardize this movement process across victims.

Although these tactics are meant to obscure tracking, transaction timing, routing behavior, and wallet clustering patterns can still reveal structured movement flows when analyzed systematically, especially when reviewed soon after the incident.