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The United States government has established a dedicated Scam Center Strike Force to target large-scale cyber scam operations based in Southeast Asia, which have defrauded Americans of at least $10 billion in 2024 alone. This multi-agency task force, comprising the Department of Justice, Treasury, FBI, Secret Service, and State Department, will focus on investigating, disrupting, and prosecuting the leaders and infrastructure behind these scam centers, particularly in Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, and Laos. The operations often involve romance scams, fraudulent investment schemes, and cryptocurrency-related fraud, with many scam centers relying on forced labor and human trafficking to sustain their activities.
In conjunction with the task force's launch, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), an armed group supporting scam compounds in Myanmar, as well as several companies in Thailand linked to Chinese organized crime. The US has already seized over $410 million in cryptocurrency assets and is pursuing further forfeitures. These actions build on previous sanctions against other transnational criminal organizations, such as the Prince Group, and reflect a broader US strategy to dismantle the infrastructure enabling large-scale cyber fraud and to provide restitution and education to victims.
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The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and associated individuals and companies for supporting Burma-based scam centers, human trafficking and related criminal activity. The sanctions also named facilitators, including Thai-linked companies, tied to the scam infrastructure.
The U.S. Department of Justice, working with agencies including the FBI, Secret Service, State Department and other partners, announced the creation of the first Scam Center Strike Force. The initiative is aimed at investigating, disrupting and prosecuting major scam compounds and their leaders in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
Before the public announcement of the new crackdown, U.S. authorities had already seized more than $401 million in cryptocurrency connected to the scam ecosystem and were pursuing additional forfeitures. The seizures formed part of a broader effort to disrupt the financial infrastructure behind the fraud networks.
The U.S. government assessed that Americans lost at least $10 billion to Southeast Asia-linked scam operations in 2024, a 66% increase from the prior year. The losses were tied largely to cryptocurrency investment and pig-butchering fraud run from regional scam compounds.
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U.S. authorities and private-sector partners disrupted transnational scam compounds in Southeast Asia that were tied to **pig-butchering cryptocurrency fraud**, broader confidence scams, and human trafficking networks used to supply forced labor. Reporting says the **Scam Center Strike Force**, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia with support from the DOJ, FBI, Secret Service, Treasury, and State Department, helped neutralize **1.4 million malicious accounts**, disable supporting infrastructure, and seize more than **500 fake investment domains**. Meta, Microsoft, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other partners were also identified as participants in the disruption effort. The campaign was paired with financial and enforcement actions aimed at the ecosystem enabling the fraud. According to public reporting, U.S. authorities froze more than **$832 million** in cryptocurrency and seized major Telegram recruitment channels allegedly used to traffic workers into scam compounds. Treasury also announced sanctions against a Burma-based armed group and associated companies linked to organized crime targeting Americans, underscoring a broader U.S. effort to pressure entities accused of protecting or facilitating the scam-center industry.
Jul 18, 2026
The U.S. Department of Justice, in collaboration with federal law enforcement and interagency partners, has intensified efforts to combat large-scale cryptocurrency-enabled fraud originating from Southeast Asia. This includes the creation of the Scam Center Strike Force, which targets scam compounds that use forced labor to perpetrate investment fraud, and the designation of groups such as the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and companies like Trans Asia and Troth Star for their roles in these operations. The U.S. government estimates that Americans lost at least $10 billion to such scams in 2024, a significant increase from previous years, and has already seized over $401 million in cryptocurrency assets, with further forfeiture actions underway. A notable case in this crackdown involves the Prince Group, led by Chen Zhi, which operated forced-labor scam compounds in Cambodia. The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi for wire fraud and money laundering, and filed a civil forfeiture complaint for approximately 127,271 Bitcoin—proceeds from these illicit activities. The Chinese National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) has alleged that the U.S. may have acquired these bitcoins from a 2020 attack on the LuBian bitcoin mining pool, raising geopolitical tensions. The Prince Group action is seen as a landmark in the ongoing U.S. campaign to disrupt the infrastructure behind Southeast Asian pig butchering scams and related cybercrime.
Jul 12, 2026
The U.S. Department of Justice said a coordinated **"Disruption Week"** operation under its Scam Center Strike Force disrupted cyber-enabled fraud and cryptocurrency investment scam networks targeting Americans, including so-called **pig butchering** operations tied to compounds in Cambodia, Laos, and Burma near the Thailand border. Working with U.S. agencies, foreign law enforcement, major technology firms, and blockchain companies, the effort disrupted more than **1.4 million** social media and email accounts, interrupted malicious network activity, decommissioned scam infrastructure, and froze more than **$3.8 million** in cryptocurrency allegedly used to launder victim funds. Authorities said the networks are linked to transnational organized crime, including Chinese syndicates, and often rely on trafficked workers forced to run fraud schemes under threat of violence. The operation also led to the arrest of **seven** suspected scammers in Thailand, additional cases opened by the Royal Thai Police Anti Cyber Scam Center, and referrals for further U.S. investigation. DOJ said reported U.S. losses from cryptocurrency investment fraud continued to surge, rising from **$3.96 billion** in 2023 to **$5.8 billion** in 2024 and more than **$7.2 billion** in 2025.
Jun 29, 2026