NESTED EXCHANGE PRACTICAL

On 2024-05-04, a victim was contacted by a scammer identifying himself as a U.S. Customs Agent.  The scammer told the victim that a package addressed to her residence was intercepted and contained illegal drugs. The scammer advised that a fine of $30,000 has been assessed and must be paid immediately to avoid her passport being revoked. The victim frequently travels back and forth between the United States and England and was fearful of losing her passport.  The scammer advised that the funds should be paid immediately at any Bitcoin ATM Machine and that she should send the payment to the following address:

14t1boHKexyqQvWqwBhFyM9Gv51Z4rL3uj

On 2024-05-04 18:52:59 the victim traveled to a Bitcoin ATM Machine and deposited approximately $30,000 USD sending the funds to the scammer’s address. The net transfer was 0.40669661 BTC with a USD value of $25,822.22.

Using an advanced analytical tool trace the address and identify the following information:

NOTE: CT Pro – Use the Tracer Feature and set a date filter of 5/4-8/2024

NOTE: All hops occurred within one to two days of the scam.

• Identify the name of the primary CEX Exchange the target may have used to cash out the cryptocurrency. NOTE - MAKE SURE TO SAVE THIS GRAPH BECAUSE THE INVESTIGATION WILL CONTINUE ON DAY 2.
   
• Identify Nested Exchanges that may be using an API Key from the Primary Exchanges.
   
• Based on the above information, what would the next investigative steps be?
   
• Document the last four of the transaction hash, the suspect address, and the exchange deposit address that you would use to prepare a Letterhead Memo to the exchange for account information. 
   
• You submitted the Letterhead Memo to the identified exchange, and they advised the Let's Exchange was accessing their platform via API key.  Locate the Let's Exchange website and determine how the Let's Exchange operates, if they allow U.S. citizens, and what information may be available.