Charges Against Two Chinese Nationals, $700 Million in Cryptocurrency Restrained, and Seizure of Telegram Channel and 503 Scam Websites Are Latest Milestones
The Department of Justice, through U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division, together with its partners, today announced a series of coordinated actions by the Scam Center Strike Force against Southeast Asian criminal organizations operating scam centers that have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars.
The Scam Center Strike Force’s actions include criminal charges against two Chinese nationals who managed a cryptocurrency investment fraud compound in Burma and attempted to open another compound in Cambodia, the seizure of a Telegram messaging app channel used to recruit human trafficking victims to a scam compound in Cambodia in order to work a law enforcement impersonation scam, and the seizure of 503 fake invesment websites, among other actions.
Additionally, the Strike Force has continued to identify funds involved in money laundering from scam centers, seeking to seize and forfeit the same, and collectively the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Department’s Criminal Division, and their partners have restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency alleged to be tied to money laundering from cryptocurrency scams.
Also today, in a coordinated interagency action, the Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against Cambodian scam center operators, and the Department of State announced rewards for information leading to the seizure or recovery of proceeds related to the Tai Chang scam center in Burma.
“The President’s Executive Order Combating Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens establishes a clear, whole-of-government strategy to confront cyber-enabled crime and transnational scam operations – bringing together law enforcement, intelligence, diplomatic, and financial tools in a unified effort,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia. “Building on that direction, the Scam Center Strike Force launched in November 2025 has delivered real operational results and reflects the kind of focused action this strategy demands. Together, these efforts are driving a coordinated campaign to disrupt and impose consequences on the transnational criminal organizations behind these schemes.”
“Today we announce significant milestones in that fight,” Pirro continued. “We have charged the Chinese bosses who ran a scam compound in Burma, where trafficked workers were beaten and forced to steal from Americans. We have seized a Telegram channel that was luring workers into a forced labor compound in Cambodia where they were ordered to pose as U.S. banks and NYPD to steal American’s life savings. We have taken down more than 500 websites used to steal people’s savings. And my Office continues to work to identify funds stolen from victims, having now caused restraint of more than $700 million in cryptocurrency involved in money laundering from U.S. victims of fraud. This Administration is lock-step in combatting these scams, and we are not done.”
“The Department’s Criminal Division is proud to partner with U.S. Attorney Pirro’s office on the latest enforcement actions of the Scam Center Strike Force to stop foreign-based criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Fraudsters who target Americans from overseas may believe that they cannot be reached, but the Department of Justice and our Strike Force partners are working to ensure that these criminals cannot operate with impunity, no matter where in the world they reside.”
Joining today’s announcement were FBI Co-Deputy Director Christopher G. Raia, U.S. Secret Service’s (USSS) Assistant Director Brent Daniels, Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Senior Bureau Official Chris Landberg, and Department of the Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Jonathan Burke.
“Eliminating fraud is a top priority for the Trump Administration,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Treasury will continue to target fraudsters and scam centers that steal billions of dollars from hardworking Americans, no matter where they operate or how well-connected they are.”
“The FBI remains committed to protecting Americans from fraud, holding perpetrators accountable, and leveraging partnerships, intelligence, and enforcement to safeguard the public,” said FBI Co-Deputy Director Christopher G. Raia. “These joint actions represent a significant blow to transnational criminal organizations preying upon our American citizens.”
“The Scam Center Strike Force has been a collaborative effort since its formation,” said Assistant Director of Field Operations Brent Daniels of U.S. Secret Service. “The Secret Service is proud to be a part of this group, which is dedicated to pursuing the criminal networks that rely on our online and financial infrastructure to target American citizens.”
“The Department of State, in support of the Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force, is announcing two reward offers under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program to disrupt cyber scam centers in Southeast Asia and hold accountable those who prey on Americans online,” said Senior Bureau Official Chris Landberg of the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. “Under the leadership of Secretary Rubio, the State Department, together with our partners, will continue to protect the American people from cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes perpetrated by these insidious scam centers.”
Background: Cyber-Enabled and Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud in Southeast Asian Scam Centers
Cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency investment fraud (referred to by the scammers as “pig butchering”) is among the fastest growing and most financially devastating forms of cybercrime targeting Americans. In these schemes, victims are cultivated over time and deceived into depositing funds into fraudulent investment platforms that appear to show substantial returns. In reality, all victim funds flow directly to the scammers. The scam continues until the victim runs out of money or discovers the fraud, at which point the scammers cease contact.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), investment scams became the most commonly reported crime type in 2023, with cryptocurrency investment fraud comprising 83 percent of that category. Reported losses from these scams rose from $3.96 billion in 2023 to $5.8 billion in 2024. Reported losses rose 24 percent in 2025 to over $7.2 billion, according to IC3’s newly released 2025 annual report. Those figures, based largely on victim reports, are believed to significantly underrepresent actual losses, as most victims do not report to law enforcement. According to the United States Institute of Peace, a conservative estimate of the annual value of funds stolen by scam syndicates worldwide approached $64 billion as of the end of 2023.
Many of these schemes are run out of industrial-scale compounds along the Burma-Thailand border and in Cambodia. Criminal syndicates often lure workers to Thailand with promises of high-paying technical jobs, then seize their identification documents and traffic them to work in scam compounds. Within the compounds, trafficked workers are frequently forced to conduct fraud operations against victims in the United States and elsewhere under threat of violence. Public reporting on these compounds has documented beatings, electrocutions, and murder.
Criminal Charges: Shunda Compound, Min Let Pan, Burma
The Strike Force unsealed criminal complaints and arrest warrants against two Chinese nationals in connection with cryptocurrency investment fraud operations at the Shunda compound in Min Let Pan, Burma: two managers in the compound, Huang Xingshan, also known as “Ah Zhe,” and “Huang Xing Saan” and Jiang Wen Jie, also known as “Jiang Nan.” They are charged with wire fraud conspiracy.
Aerial surveillance photo of the Shunda compound in Burma, where forced-labor conducted fraud operations under threat of violence.
The Shunda compound operated from at least January 2025 until approximately November 2025, when it was seized by the Karen National Liberation Army of Burma. The compound used scam websites and mobile applications disguised as legitimate investment platforms to defraud victims, including Americans. Workers within the compound were trafficked individuals who were held against their will and forced to defraud victims under the threat of violence and torture.
The FBI deployed personnel to Thailand following the compound’s seizure. Working with Thai authorities, FBI agents reviewed thousands of mobile devices and over 1,300 desktop computers recovered from Shunda. Agents also interviewed tens of former compound workers. That investigation identified a hierarchical organization of Chinese operators running the compound and supported the charges against the two defendants.
Phones seized from the Shunda compound.
According to the investigation, Huang served at Shunda as a high-level manager and enforcer and personally participated in the physical punishment of trafficked compound workers. Jiang served as a team leader directly supervising workers who specifically targeted American victims. Under Jiang’s supervision, one of the people under his command successfully defrauded a single American victim of over $3 million utilizing a fraudulent investment platform. The theft was celebrated within the organization as a paradigm of success.
The interior of one of the buildings in the Shunda compound in Burma.
After the Shunda compound was seized, Huang and Jiang relocated to another scam compound located in Cambodia where they attempted to continue their cryptocurrency investment fraud operation. In early 2026, Huang and Jiang decided to return to Burma, traveling through Thailand.
Huang and Jiang were arrested on immigration charges by Thai law enforcement in early 2026 in Thailand. The case is being investigated by FBI’s New York Field Office with substantial assistance from the FBI Legal Attaché in Bangkok and Thai authorities.
Telegram Channel Seizure
The Strike Force conducted a first-of-its-kind seizure of a Telegram channel with more than 6,000 followers that was used to recruit individuals to travel to Cambodia under false promises of high-paying employment. Once there, recruited workers were held against their will and forced to defraud victims, including Americans, as part of a sophisticated law enforcement impersonation scheme.
The Telegram channel included postings for jobs in Cambodia that were specifically for workers who spoke with “American” accents, would work a night shift (i.e., during U.S. daytime hours), and some specifically sought attractive female candidates. The Telegram channel was connected to a scam compound in rural Cambodia near the Thai border.
The Telegram channel that was used to recruit individuals to work in Cambodia.
A job post on the Telegram channel.
Once at the scam compound, the scam workers specifically targeted U.S. persons. In the fraud scheme, victims received cold calls from individuals posing as bank representatives, including impersonators of JPMorgan or other U.S. bank customer service agents, warning them that their bank accounts had been used to purchase firearms from an actual U.S. gun store website. Victims were then transferred to individuals posing as “NYPD detectives” or other supposed law enforcement, and later sent to the “New York Supreme Court” or other purported prosecutorial officials. Through sustained pressure conducted over WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams, victims were induced to disclose their bank account information and ultimately transfer their savings to the scammers.
Individuals posed as bank representatives, worked from a script, and told their intended victims that their bank accounts had been used to purchase firearms from a gun store website.
The Telegram seizure case is being handled by FBI’s Miami Field Office, USSS Headquarters, and investigators at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. As part of the Strike Forces’s efforts at public-private collaboration on the scam center threat, after being alerted by law enforcement, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, and Meta voluntarily took internal investigative measures to combat the fraud operating on their systems and occurring under their names.
503 Web Domain Seizures
The Strike Force announced the seizure of more than 503 .com web domains identified through the Operation Level Up initiative as having been used to defraud U.S. victims. The seized domains all were disguised as legitimate “investment platforms,” which victims reported to law enforcement were causing them to unknowingly deposit cryptocurrency funds and view supposed “returns” on what they believed were legitimate investments.
Operation Level Up, established in January 2024, by FBI and USSS is an ongoing proactive initiative to identify and notify victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud. As of March 2026: (i) Operation Level Up has notified 8,935 victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud; (ii) 77% of those victims were unaware they were being scammed; (iii) the estimated savings to victims is $562,726,245 of monies they otherwise would have sent to their scammers; and (iv) ninety-three victims have been referred to an FBI victim specialist for suicide intervention due to the devastating nature of these scams. Some victims have reported to law enforcement that—prior to being notified by the FBI about the scam—they were in the process of liquidating their 401K, selling their home, or obtaining a sizable loan. One elderly victim was surviving on disability pay; he had already paid the scammers $1,200 and would have cut into money he needed for food to pay more. Each of the 503 .com domains seized was identified by a victim contacted by Operation Level Up and involved in laundering that victim’s cryptocurrency funds.
Visitors to these domains are now informed on a splash page that it has been seized by law enforcement. The investigation was conducted by the Operation Level Up Initiative, with the FBI’s Detroit and Phoenix Field Offices handling the seizure with support from investigators at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Examples of the seized domains that were disguised as legitimate investment platforms, causing victims to unknowingly deposit funds.
Restraint of Cryptocurrency Involved in Money Laundering from Scams
The Scam Center Strike Force continues its work to identify, seize, and forfeit funds involved in money laundering related to scams, so that funds can be returned to victims whenever possible. Under leadership from the FBI and the USSS, more than $701,962,392.15 million in cryptocurrency has been identified as allegedly involved in laundering of funds stolen from victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud and restrained through voluntary actions of cryptocurrency providers, as well as U.S. legal process. The Strike Force is working tirelessly to forfeit funds with its goal of returning funds to victims, and it continues to support victims who have lost homes and life savings to these schemes. FBI San Francisco, San Diego, Washington, Seattle, Phoenix, Nashville, and Honolulu Field Offices, and the USSS Headquarters, San Francisco, Nashville, and Washington Field Offices investigated these matters and conducted associated seizures.
State Department Rewards and Actions Related to Tai Chang
Consistent with the Strike Force’s whole of government approach, in a coordinated action, the Department of State today announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the seizure or recovery of proceeds from fraud and money laundering schemes associated with the Tai Chang scam centers in Burma’s Karen State.
The Strike Force also announced the seizure of the latest domain used by the Tai Chang scam centers, fortuneprimeglobalirts.com. The domain was a new iteration of the centers’ fraudulent investment platform and was launched after the Strike Force seized its predecessor domain, tickmilleas.com. The latest seized domain was designed and functioned similarly to its predecessor scam investment website. Visitors to the domain are now informed on a splash page that it has been seized by law enforcement, and victims are encouraged to submit complaints to the FBI. The Tai Chang scam centers were subject of web domain seizures by the Strike Force and designations by the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced in November 2025.
FBI’s San Diego Field Office is investigating the case in conjuction with the FBI Law Enforcement Attaché in Bangkok. Tips should be sent to them at TaiChangTIPS@fbi.gov.
Treasury Department Sanctions
Also in a coordinated action, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced new sanctions against individuals and entities perpetrating cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes against Americans using forced labor and violence in Cambodia. The sanctions target Cambodian Senator Kok An, Cambodian businessman Rithy Raksmei, several associates, and their respective business empires, including holding companies for scam center operations.
About the Scam Center Strike Force
The Scam Center Strike Force was officially launched by U.S. Attorney Pirro in November 2025 to address the growing threat posed by Chinese organized crime syndicates operating scam centers primarily in Southeast Asia. The Strike Force targets cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking, and money laundering operations that have cost American victims billions of dollars.
On March 6, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Administration to prioritize cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes draining American families of their life savings. Through the Executive Order, President Trump is unleashing every available tool to stop foreign-backed criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans through cyber-enabled fraud. The Scam Center Strike Force is a critical node in executing the mission outlined in the President’s Order.
The Strike Force’s founding partners are the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, the FBI, and the U.S. Secret Service, who have now been joined by numerous additional law enforcement agencies as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Districts of Alaska, Rhode Island, and Western Washington. The Strike Force works in collaboration with other agencies, including the Treasury and State Departments. The Strike Force works in strategic partnership with private industry and calls on all U.S. businesses to take more proactive steps to protect users from scam operations.
The Scam Center Strike Force will use every tool available to help secure Main Street Americans from these scams. With its interagency and public partners, it will educate Americans on how to identify these scams, prevent generational wealth from flowing from America into the pockets of Chinese organized crime, and work with unwavering focus to return stolen funds to victims.
An indictment or a complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
If you have been defrauded out of your money by a Southeast Asian Scam Center scheme, please contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
