The Department of Justice, through U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division, together with its partners, today announced a series of coordinated actions by the Scam Center Strike Force against Southeast Asian criminal organizations operating scam centers that have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars. .
Key details of the case
The Scam Center Strike Force’s actions include criminal charges against two Chinese nationals who managed a cryptocurrency investment fraud compound in Burma and attempted to open another compound in Cambodia, the seizure of a Telegram messaging app channel used to recruit human trafficking victims to a scam compound in Cambodia in order to work a law enforcement impersonation scam. The seizure of 503 fake invesment websites, among other actions. Additionally, the Strike Force has continued to identify funds involved in money laundering from scam centers, seeking to seize and forfeit the same.
Moreover, collectively the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Department’s Criminal Division. Their partners have restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency alleged to be tied to money laundering from cryptocurrency scams.
Also today, in a coordinated interagency action, the Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against Cambodian scam center operators. The Department of State announced rewards for information leading to the seizure or recovery of proceeds related to the Tai Chang scam center in Burma. “The President’s Executive Order Combating Cybercrime, Fraud.
Enforcement actions and official statements
Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens establishes a clear, whole-of-government strategy to confront cyber-enabled crime and transnational scam operations – bringing together law enforcement, intelligence, diplomatic, and financial tools in a unified effort,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia. “Building on that direction, the Scam Center Strike Force launched in November 2025 has delivered real operational results and reflects the kind of focused action this strategy demands.
As a result, together, these efforts are driving a coordinated campaign to disrupt and impose consequences on the transnational criminal organizations behind these schemes.”. “Today we announce significant milestones in that fight,” Pirro continued. “We have charged the Chinese bosses who ran a scam compound in Burma. For complete details, refer to the official DOJ press release.
Consequently, trafficked workers were beaten and forced to steal from Americans. We have seized a Telegram channel that was luring workers into a forced labor compound in Cambodia where they were ordered to pose as U.S. banks and NYPD to steal American’s life savings. We have taken down more than 500 websites used to steal people’s savings.
Notably, and my Office continues to work to identify funds stolen from victims, having now caused restraint of more than $700 million in cryptocurrency involved in money laundering from U.S. victims of fraud. This Administration is lock-step in combatting these scams, and we are not done.”. “The Department’s Criminal Division is proud to partner with U.S. For related coverage, see Investigation opened into Clean Air Programme over suspected misuse of funds.
Specifically, attorney Pirro’s office on the latest enforcement actions of the Scam Center Strike Force to stop foreign-based criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Fraudsters who target Americans from overseas may believe that they cannot be reached.
The Department of Justice and our Strike Force partners are working to ensure that these criminals cannot operate with impunity, no matter where in the world they reside.”. Joining today’s announcment were FBI Co-Deputy Director Christopher G. Secret Service’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Jonathan Burke, Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Senior Bureau Official Chris Landberg. For related coverage, see United States targets Nicaragua’s gold industry with new sanctions on officials and firms.
At the same time, department of the Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Jonathan Burke. . Background: Cyber-Enabled and Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud in Southeast Asian Scam Centers . Cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency investment fraud (referred to by the scammers as “pig butchering”) is among the fastest growing and most financially devastating forms of cybercrime targeting Americans.
In particular, in these schemes, victims are cultivated over time and deceived into depositing funds into fraudulent investment platforms that appear to show substantial returns. In reality, all victim funds flow directly to the scammers. The scam continues until the victim runs out of money or discovers the fraud, at which point the scammers cease contact. .
Furthermore, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), investment scams became the most commonly reported crime type in 2023, with cryptocurrency investment fraud comprising 83 percent of that category. Reported losses from these scams rose from $3.96 billion in 2023 to $5.8 billion in 2024. Reported losses rose 24 percent in 2025 to over $7.2 billion, according to IC3’s newly released 2025 annual report.
Investigation and prosecution details
Those figures, based largely on victim reports, are believed to significantly underrepresent actual losses, as most victims do not report to law enforcement. According to the United States Institute of Peace, a conservative estimate of the annual value of funds stolen by scam syndicates worldwide approached $64 billion as of the end of 2023. . Many of these schemes are run out of industrial-scale compounds along the Burma-Thailand border and in Cambodia. Criminal syndicates often lure workers to Thailand with promises of high-paying technical jobs, then seize their identification documents and traffic them to work in scam compounds.