Federal authorities announced a new interagency Scam Center Strike Force to dismantle Southeast Asian operations running crypto investment and confidence scams that target Americans, seize stolen cryptocurrency, and work with partners to disrupt the infrastructure these groups use.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro led the public announcement of the Scam Center Strike Force, bringing together the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the U.S. Secret Service. The initiative focuses on transnational criminal networks exploiting U.S. infrastructure and social channels to run large-scale scams. The Strike Force aims to identify leaders, seize assets, and cooperate across agencies to pursue accountability.
Investigators say Chinese transnational criminal organizations are running sophisticated cryptocurrency investment scams that rip off the life savings of Americans. These groups often begin contact through U.S. social media or text messages, building trust before steering victims into real crypto purchases and then into fake investment sites and apps. Once funds move to those fake platforms, the criminals quickly launder crypto into accounts beyond U.S. reach.
Operatives commonly run these schemes out of scam compounds in Southeast Asia, where workers are frequently victims of human trafficking, held against their will, and forced to target foreigners. The operations have become so profitable in some countries that scam revenue approaches a significant share of national output. Recent reporting estimates that the scam industry defrauds Americans of nearly $10 billion per year.
“Scam centers are creating a generational wealth transfer from Main Street America into the pockets of Chinese organized crime. As the prosecuting office in the nation’s capital, my office has the authority to charge foreign defendants and seize foreign property,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “President Trump wants the United States to be the global center of the world’s cryptocurrency industry. So it is absolutely crucial that Americans understand the safe use of this commodity. We will expose and prosecute the criminals who would abuse their trust so that all Americans can feel secure in their investments.”
Pirro publicly called on private companies to join the effort and help secure platforms and infrastructure. The Strike Force intends to work closely with internet service providers and social media platforms to sever the means by which these scams reach U.S. victims. The goal is to prevent U.S.-based infrastructure from being weaponized by overseas criminal enterprises.
U.S. Attorney Pirro specifically called on U.S. corporations to partner in the initiative. “Working together in public-private partnership, we must secure the U.S. infrastructure, which is being used as an instrument to defraud Americans in these scams.”
The new tasking combines prosecutorial power with investigative reach, and it plans to use tools from the State Department, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Commerce Department. Interagency cooperation aims to target both the people who operate the scams and the networks that sustain them. Teams are focusing on key leaders and on disrupting the flow of funds, communications, and hosting resources.
“The FBI is committed to the important work of the Scam Center Strike Force,” said FBI Criminal Division Deputy Assistant Director, Gregory Heeb. “The lasting impact from the highly sophisticated, transnational financial crimes emanating from scam centers can be devastating to victims and their families. It is the FBI’s job to stop these criminals, and with the help of our partners around the globe, we will do just that.”
The Strike Force reports seizure and forfeiture of crypto totaling $401,657,274.33 related to these schemes and announced forfeiture proceedings for an additional $80 million in stolen funds. A specialized Crypto Seizure team is working to recover stolen assets and return them to victims where possible. These seizures reflect coordinated actions across multiple FBI field offices and Secret Service units.
Operational teams have conducted work in Burma, where they seized websites used to victimize Americans and sought warrants for satellite terminals tied to fraud infrastructure. The Treasury designated the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and related entities as specially-designated nationals on the SDN list, blocking assets and restricting business with those groups. Regional efforts in Bali and elsewhere led to prosecutions and local arrests supported by Strike Force information.
Field deployments include agents embedded with partner law enforcement in Southeast Asia to disrupt scam compounds and gather evidence for prosecution. Strike Force work has supported prosecutions of dozens of suspects and helped local authorities bring charges. Teams remain focused on identifying facilitators and the cross-border networks that enable these crimes.
The Strike Force is led by senior prosecutors and trial attorneys from DOJ components including the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section and the Fraud Section, working alongside FBI and Secret Service investigators. Specific seizure operations were carried out by named Assistant U.S. Attorneys and trial teams in conjunction with multiple U.S. field offices. The collaborative structure is intended to combine legal tools with investigative muscle to pursue complex, multinational cases.
As announced, the Scam Center Strike Force is operational now and will continue to pursue seizures, prosecutions, and partnerships to stop the schemes and recover funds. The initiative promises coordinated pressure on the scam compounds, their facilitators, and the infrastructure used to exploit Americans. Authorities say the effort will also include public education about how these investment scams operate.
