In this episode of From the Hill to the Trenches, host Dorothy Hill speaks with Ralph Dahm, a seasoned digital currency investigator who has traced cryptocurrency crimes ranging from $200 to over $1 billion in stolen Bitcoin.

Ralph Dahm exposes the dark reality of romance scams and pig butchering schemes targeting elderly Americans, revealing that victims lose between $50-150 billion annually to sophisticated criminal networks operating from Southeast Asian camps. He breaks down the mechanics of crypto ATMs, the challenges of tracing blockchain transactions, and why only 2-4% of stolen funds are ever recovered.

The conversation covers the human trafficking element behind these scams, where victims themselves are forced to defraud Americans under threat of violence. Ralph Dahm also discusses the bureaucratic obstacles preventing law enforcement from effectively pursuing these cases and shares practical advice for identifying red flags before becoming a victim of cryptocurrency fraud schemes.