A $3 million XRP theft from a US retiree's Ellipal wallet has exposed the predatory nature of many crypto recovery firms. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT traced the $3.05 million loss through over 120 cross-chain swaps, revealing that most recovery firms charge exorbitant fees for empty promises of restitution. The victim, Brandon LaRoque, lost his life savings of 1.2 million XRP, accumulated since 2017, after importing his seed phrase into the Ellipal mobile app, inadvertently converting his cold storage into a hot wallet. ZachXBT's investigation found the stolen XRP was converted through 120 Ripple-to-Tron bridge transactions and consolidated on Tron before disappearing into OTC desks linked to Huione, a network recently sanctioned by the US Treasury for facilitating illicit transfers. The case underscores the challenges of disrupting cross-jurisdictional laundering pipelines, even with public blockchain trails. The incident also highlights the confusion around self-custody, as LaRoque's misunderstanding of Ellipal's wallet setup contributed to the loss. ZachXBT warns that the real threat may not be from hackers, but from recovery firms exploiting victims' desperation with high fees and superficial services.