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The United States and United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate investigations and prosecutions targeting Southeast Asia-based scam compounds run by Chinese criminal networks. The U.S. Department of Justice, U.K. National Crime Agency, and Crown Prosecution Service will share intelligence, pursue parallel investigations, and select jurisdictions for joint cases through the U.S. Scam Center Strike Force initiative.
The partnership expands action against networks that use trafficked workers—often under threats of torture—to conduct romance, cryptocurrency-investment, and other cyber-enabled fraud. Prior joint sanctions targeted Prince Group, its leader Chen Zhi, affiliated scam compounds, casinos, money-laundering enablers, and UK property including a £12 million London mansion; U.S. authorities also reported seizing roughly $15 billion in bitcoin linked to Chen. U.S. victims lost more than $12 billion to cyber scams in the preceding year, with cyber-enabled fraud accounting for nearly 85% of reported losses.
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The United States and United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate action against Southeast Asia-based investment and romance scam centers. Their authorities agreed to conduct parallel investigations, share information, and determine suitable jurisdictions for joint cases.
The U.S. Justice Department seized approximately $15 billion worth of bitcoin associated with Prince Group CEO Chen Zhi as part of prior action against the network.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Seifert told Congress that the Scam Center Strike Force had more than 150 personnel.
The United States launched the Scam Center Strike Force to combat cyber-enabled scams. The task force includes prosecutors and agents from the FBI, IRS, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
The UK and US announced coordinated sanctions against Chen Zhi, Prince Group, and associated entities linked to Southeast Asian scam compounds. The UK froze a £12 million North London mansion and targeted businesses and assets connected to fraud, casinos, and money laundering.
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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.
Jun 29, 2026
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