DOJ Steps Up Global Crypto Scam Crackdown, Seizes More Than $700 Million in Digital Assets

The U.S. Department of Justice said it has launched coordinated actions against Southeast Asian scam hubs accused of stealing billions of dollars from Americans through fraudulent crypto investment schemes. The DOJ announced charges against two Chinese nationals alleged to have operated a crypto fraud compound in Burma. Authorities also seized a Telegram channel allegedly used to recruit and traffic workers into scam operations in Cambodia and dismantled more than 500 fake investment websites. Officials said they have restrained over $700 million in cryptocurrency linked to laundering proceeds from so-called "pig butchering" scams, a fast-growing fraud category targeting U.S. victims. Alongside the DOJ effort, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Cambodian operators, and the U.S. Department of State announced rewards tied to a major scam compound in Burma. U.S. officials described the actions as a whole-of-government push to disrupt transnational cybercrime networks that prey on victims through fake crypto investment platforms.