- The U.S. Department of Justice has seized over $580 million in cryptocurrency from Southeast Asian scam networks since November 2025.
- The operations target “pig butchering” scams, which use social engineering and fake investment platforms to steal billions from victims globally.
- Blockchain analytics firm Cyvers identifies 27,000 active criminal groups with $27.5 billion in fraud exposure worldwide.
- U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro linked the networks to Chinese organized crime but the criminal ecosystem is increasingly decentralized and hybrid.
U.S. authorities announced on Thursday that the Scam Center Strike Force has frozen and seized over $580 million in cryptocurrency from transnational crime networks operating in Southeast Asia. According to an announcement U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro stated the force has made “significant progress” in targeting scam centers in countries like Burma, Cambodia, and Laos.
Jeanine Pirro noted that these crypto seizures are “one important part” of the force’s work to dismantle criminal enterprises. Consequently, her office will seek to forfeit these funds and return them to victims.
Founded in November 2025, the strike force coordinates across the DOJ, FBI, and U.S. Treasury. It specifically targets “pig butchering” scams that have generated billions by manipulating victims into fraudulent crypto investments.
These Southeast Asian scam compounds, often relying on coerced labor, were elevated to a global threat by Interpol last year. Meanwhile, Amnesty International recently warned that mass escapes from these centers have created a humanitarian crisis.
While the $580 million seizure is operationally meaningful, Cyvers CEO Deddy Lavid told Decrypt it represents “only a fraction” of global crypto fraud activity. Lavid added that his firm has identified approximately 27,000 active criminal groups worldwide.
Pirro linked the networks to “Chinese organized crime” operating through transnational criminal organizations. However, Lavid described a more nuanced picture of increasingly decentralized and hybrid networks.
These hybrid networks involve local operators and cross-border laundering hubs built atop Chinese-language infrastructure. The result is that Chinese TCOs play a central role in a multinational, fragmented criminal ecosystem.
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