FBI and International Agencies Shut Down Scam Centers, Arrest 276 People

The FBI and international law enforcement agencies shut down nine scam centers used to run cryptocurrency investment scams and arrested 276 people in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the latest in a global effort to thwart the growing threat of transnational fraud networks behind so-called “pig butchering” operations.Of those captured, 275 were arrested by Dubai police and one by the Royal Thai Police, according to the FBI. Several of those arrested – including three Indonesian nationals and one from Burma, as well as two alleged unnamed co-conspirators who are still at large – face money laundering and wire fraud in the United States through charges unsealed in U.S. District Court in San Diego, California.According to an indictment, criminal complaints, and other court records, those charged in the United States were part of a larger global conspiracy that operated three companies – the Ko Thet Company, Sanduo Group, and Giant Company – that were used to run the scams and stole millions of dollars from Americans.The operation has been running at least since 2024, and continued to do so until last month, according to the unsealed indictment. FBI agents in San Diego opened a Homeland Security Task Force investigation last year after identifying a number of companies and people that were running scam compounds that were conducting the crypto investments frauds.Scam Compounds Under ScrutinyScam compounds have become a focus of law enforcement agencies and human rights groups around the world in recent years. Asian crimes syndicates since the beginning of the decade have created massive, industrial-scale compounds throughout the border regions of countries like Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia that run the operations, which can generate as much as $60 billion a year. Most of the scams are run by people around the region lured by fake promises of work and then captured and held in captivity at the compounds.Those charged included Burmese national Thet Min Nyi and Wiliang Awang, Andreas Chandra and Lisa Mariam, all Indonesian nationals. For the scams, they used fake identities, at times using photos of models as their own, according to the indictment.Usual OperationAccording to the FBI and the indictment, the operations run by those arrested fall in line with how most of these scams play out. The suspects are accused of contacting potential victims through multiple means, from emails or social media to dating apps or telephone calls and text messages.Over time, co-conspirators would gain the trust of victims through phony romance or friendship schemes, and eventually start encouraging them to invest money in fake crypto investments, talking about their own successes. The scammers helped victims set up accounts and transfer their crypto to fake platforms – called CoinswiftTrading and SwiftLedger – that they controlled.  Occasionally suspects would encourage victims to borrow money from relatives so they could invest more.Once the money was stolen, the scammers abruptly shut off communications with the victim and shut off access to their fake investment account.A Lot of Money StolenSuch scams are widespread. In the 2026 Norton Insights Report: Artificial Intimacy, researchers found that almost half of online daters in the United States have been targeted in a dating scam, with 74% of those becoming victims. Gen Digital’s Gen Threat Report found that in the fourth quarter last year, more than 17 million dating scam attacks were blocked, a 19% year-over-year increase. McAfee researchers found that about 15% of U.S. adults – or one in seven – said they’ve lost money to an online dating or romance scam.The lost money adds up. The FBI reported earlier this year that losses to crypto fraud his more than $11.3 billion in 2025.In addition, the operations are getting more difficult to detect, with the operators using deepfake videos and other AI tools to make themselves seem more legitimate to potential victims.The Strike Force at WorkThe U.S. government has ramped its efforts to combat the problem. In November 2025, agencies like the Justice Department (DOJ), FBI, Treasury, and Secret Service established the Scam Center Strike Force program.Last week, the DOJ announced wire fraud conspiracy charges against two Chinese nationals who investigators said managed the Shunda crypto fraud compound in Burma were trying to open another in Cambodia. In addition, authorities seized a Telegram channel used by scam compound operators to lure people to Cambodia by promising fakes jobs that promised high salaries. Once they arrived, the victims were forced to work in the compounds running scams.The Strike Force also seized more than 503 web domains that had been used to defraud Americans. The domains were made to appear to be legitimate investment platforms that the bad actors directed victims to as a place to invest their crypto.At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Cambodian Senator Kok An and 28 people and entities in his network, a move that freezes their assets within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits American citizens, companies, and financial institutions from doing business with them. Investigators said Kok An controls multiple scam compounds in Cambodia, keeping them protect due to his political connections.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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