{"investigation":{"slug":"doj-scam-center-strike-force-southeast-asia-pig-butchering-network","entity_name":"DOJ Scam Center Strike Force / Southeast Asia Pig Butchering Network","trust_score":0,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":-3,"confidence":0.92,"status":"under_investigation","content_type":"investigation","summary":"The Scam Center Strike Force is a U.S. Department of Justice-led interagency task force, announced in November 2025, that targets cryptocurrency \"pig-butchering\" and romance-investment fraud run from scam compounds in Southeast Asia, many of which are alleged to rely on trafficked forced labor. This page covers the Strike Force's enforcement record and the broader criminal network it targets, including a 276-person, multi-country arrest operation in April 2026, a May 2026 public-private \"Disruption Week,\" and civil forfeiture actions totaling hundreds of millions of dollars; it also covers the related, separately prosecuted case against Cambodia's Prince Group and its chairman Chen Zhi. The entries named here are the subjects of ongoing U.S. and foreign law-enforcement action and United Nations human-rights findings, not a company or product that the public could use, so the score reflects the severity of alleged criminal conduct described rather than a scam targeting investors in the Strike Force itself.","sections":[{"content":"\"Pig butchering\" (sha zhu pan) is a long-con investment or romance fraud in which scammers cultivate a relationship with a victim, often over weeks or months, before persuading them to move funds into fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platforms. U.S. and UN officials, along with blockchain analytics firms, describe the schemes as run largely out of scam compounds in Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, and tie much of the activity to Chinese-origin transnational criminal organizations. The FBI reported that crypto-related fraud losses reached a record $11.3 billion in the United States in 2025, more than half of total internet-crime losses that year, according to The Block's reporting on the bureau's data. The Department of Justice created the Scam Center Strike Force in November 2025 specifically to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute the network behind these schemes.","heading":"Overview and Threat Classification","sources":[{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/399515/fbi-task-force-arrests-276-crypto-scams","name":"FBI task force arrests 276 in global pig-butchering crackdown","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://bangkok.ohchr.org/reports/wicked-problem-seeking-human-rights-based-solutions-trafficking-cyber-scam-operations","name":"A wicked problem: Seeking human rights-based solutions to trafficking into cyber scam operations (OHCHR)","type":"research","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"On November 12, 2025, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Ferris Pirro, together with the DOJ Criminal Division, the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, announced the creation of the first District of Columbia \"Scam Center Strike Force,\" with the stated mission to investigate, disrupt and prosecute the most significant Southeast Asian scam centers and their leaders, with a declared geographic focus on Burma, Cambodia and Laos. The task force said it would work with the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the State Department and foreign law enforcement, combining sanctions, asset seizures and criminal prosecutions. At launch, Pirro's office said it had already seized more than $400 million in connection with these schemes and was moving to forfeit an additional $80 million for return to victims; she was separately reported as citing a $135 billion estimate for 2024 losses to Americans from such schemes, a figure not corroborated elsewhere and treated here as unverified. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and IRS Criminal Investigation later joined as partner agencies, according to DOJ's own description of a subsequent operation.","heading":"DOJ Scam Center Strike Force — Formation and Mandate","sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/new-scam-center-strike-force-battles-southeast-asian-crypto-investment-fraud-targeting","name":"New Scam Center Strike Force battles Southeast Asian crypto investment fraud targeting Americans (DOJ, USAO-DC)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://decrypt.co/348333/doj-fbi-secret-service-unveil-strike-force-combat-crypto-scams-china","name":"DOJ, FBI, Secret Service Unveil 'Strike Force' to Combat Crypto Scams Rooted in China","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.ballardspahr.com/insights/alerts-and-articles/2025/11/us-government-launches-inter-agency-effort-to-combat-online-cryptocurrency-fraud-schemes","name":"US government launches inter-agency effort to combat online cryptocurrency fraud schemes","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cybernews.com/security/us-launches-scam-center-strike-force-combat-crypto-investment-scams/","name":"US launches Scam Center Strike Force to combat crypto investment scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"On April 29, 2026, the DOJ announced that a coordinated international operation led by the FBI, with Dubai Police (UAE Ministry of Interior), Royal Thai Police and Chinese authorities, had resulted in at least 276 arrests and the dismantling of at least nine alleged scam centers. Dubai authorities arrested 275 people and Thai police arrested one more. In the Southern District of California, prosecutors charged Thet Min Nyi (27, Burmese national, also known as \"Ko Thet\" or \"Pixy\"), Andreas Chandra (29, Indonesian), Lisa Mariam (29, Indonesian) and Wiliang Awang (23, Indonesian, arrested in Thailand), along with two fugitive co-conspirators, with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. A grand jury in the Southern District of California returned an indictment against Thet Min Nyi and a fugitive co-defendant in March 2026, and criminal complaints against the remaining defendants followed in April 2026. The defendants are alleged to have run or recruited for three entities — the Ko Thet Company, Sanduo Group and Giant Company — operating since at least 2024. The investigation was opened by the FBI's San Diego field office in 2025. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted.","heading":"April 2026 Global Takedown — 276 Arrests","sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/coordinated-takedown-scam-centers-leads-least-276-arrests-alleged-managers-and-recruiters","name":"Coordinated takedown of scam centers leads to at least 276 arrests; alleged managers and recruiters charged in San Diego (DOJ)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/coordinated-takedown-of-scam-centers-leads-to-at-least-276-arrests-alleged-managers-and-recruiters-charged-in-san-diego","name":"Coordinated takedown of scam centers leads to at least 276 arrests (IRS Criminal Investigation)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sandiego/news/coordinated-takedown-of-scam-centers-leads-to-at-least-276-arrests-alleged-managers-and-recruiters-charged-in-san-diego","name":"Coordinated takedown of scam centers leads to at least 276 arrests (FBI San Diego)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/399515/fbi-task-force-arrests-276-crypto-scams","name":"FBI task force arrests 276 in global pig-butchering crackdown","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://securityboulevard.com/2026/04/fbi-and-international-agencies-shut-down-scam-centers-arrest-276-people/","name":"FBI and international agencies shut down scam centers, arrest 276 people","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"From May 18–21, 2026, the Scam Center Strike Force held meetings in Washington, D.C. with foreign officials and private industry as part of what DOJ described as a first-of-its-kind \"U.S. & Private Industry Disruption Week.\" FBI, Secret Service and Homeland Security Investigations personnel shared information about specific Southeast Asian scam targets so that private companies could identify and act on infrastructure used in cryptocurrency investment fraud. Participating companies included Apple, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Silent Push, SpaceX, TRM Labs and Zenlayer. DOJ said the week's voluntary private-sector actions disrupted millions of scam-linked social media, email and internet-access accounts and led to more than $3.8 million in cryptocurrency being voluntarily frozen; some secondary reporting cites higher account-disruption figures (described as up to 14 million) that could not be corroborated against the primary DOJ/IRS release and are treated as unverified here. The Strike Force's work was described as proceeding under a March 6, 2026 executive order on cyber-enabled fraud.","heading":"Disruption Week — May 2026 Public-Private Operation","sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/scam-center-strike-force-announces-results-us-private-industry-disruption-week","name":"Scam Center Strike Force announces results of U.S. & private industry 'Disruption Week' (DOJ)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/scam-center-strike-force-announces-results-of-us-private-industry-disruption-week","name":"Scam Center Strike Force announces results of US private industry Disruption Week (IRS Criminal Investigation)","type":"official","credibility":1}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"On July 21, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, working with the Secret Service's Washington Field Office Cyber Fraud Task Force, filed five civil forfeiture complaints seeking roughly $25 million in cryptocurrency tied to separate investment- and romance-scam investigations. The largest complaint sought about $12.1 million connected to a romance-scam scheme affecting more than 200 people; a second, flagged by Canadian authorities, sought about $10.4 million across more than 270 suspected victim transactions; the remaining three complaints ranged from about $285,000 to $2.4 million, including one case involving self-styled \"recovery agents\" who allegedly re-victimized fraud victims. Investigators said funds were traced through hundreds of intermediary wallets and that the people moving the money were based in Southeast Asia, with IP addresses traced to China, Malaysia and Cambodia. DOJ said the filings brought the Strike Force's cumulative recoveries to more than $800 million since its November 2025 launch. Separately, in an April 23, 2026 action, the Strike Force said it had restrained more than $701 million in cryptocurrency tied to investment scams, through a mix of voluntary exchange action and legal process, and seized a Telegram recruitment channel with more than 6,000 followers used to lure workers to an alleged scam center in Myanmar; it also said it had taken down at least 503 fraudulent investment websites and unsealed charges against two Chinese nationals, Huang Xingshan and Jiang Wen Jie, over an alleged fraud center in Myanmar. News coverage citing a $938 million cumulative frozen total could not be independently verified against a primary source and is noted here as a reported but unconfirmed figure.","heading":"July 2026 Civil Forfeiture Complaints and Cumulative Recoveries","sources":[{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409194/us-seeks-forfeiture-25-million-crypto","name":"US seeks forfeiture of $25 million in crypto tied to global fraud investigations","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://decrypt.co/374049/us-seizes-more-than-25m-in-crypto-tied-to-investment-and-romance-scams","name":"US seizes more than $25M in crypto tied to investment and romance scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/investigations-cryptocurrency-scams-result-seizure-more-25-million","name":"Investigations into cryptocurrency scams result in seizure of more than $25 million (DOJ, USAO-DC)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://cryptoslate.com/us-targets-26-4-million-in-five-crypto-scam-cases-as-doj-says-800-million-recovered/","name":"US targets $26.4 million in five crypto scam cases as DOJ says $800 million recovered","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/07/22/doj-moves-to-seize-25m-in-crypto-from-global-scam-networks/","name":"DOJ moves to seize $25M in crypto from global scam networks","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://crypto.news/u-s-doj-targets-25m-in-crypto-linked-to-investment-and-romance-scams/","name":"US DOJ targets $25M in crypto linked to investment and romance scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://crypto.jobs/news/doj-freezes-701m-in-crypto-during-crackdown-on-job-recruitment-scams","name":"DOJ freezes $701M in crypto tied to investment scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://crypto.news/u-s-doj-freezes-701m-in-crypto-tied-to-global-scam-networks/","name":"DOJ freezes $701M in crypto tied to global scam networks","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://news.bitcoin.com/regulation-and-legal/feds-have-now-frozen-938m-in-scam-crypto-after-telegram-market-bust/","name":"Feds have now frozen $938M in scam crypto after Telegram market bust","type":"news_article","credibility":3}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"On October 14, 2025, the DOJ unsealed an indictment in federal court in Brooklyn, New York charging Chen Zhi (also known as \"Vincent\"), the Cambodian founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Prosecutors allege Prince Group operated roughly ten compounds in Cambodia that functioned as forced-labor camps, where trafficked workers were confined and compelled, often under threat of violence, to carry out pig-butchering crypto investment scams; one scheme allegedly laundered about $18 million through a Brooklyn-based arm of the group between May 2021 and August 2022, affecting roughly 250 U.S. victims. The same day, DOJ filed a civil forfeiture complaint against approximately 127,271 bitcoin, valued at roughly $15 billion at the time, which it described as the largest single forfeiture action in department history; the U.S. Treasury Department simultaneously designated Prince Group a transnational criminal organization and sanctioned Chen Zhi and associated entities, with the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announcing parallel sanctions. Prince Group has denied the allegations as baseless, according to OCCRP. Cambodia's Ministry of Interior said Chen Zhi was arrested on January 6, 2026, along with two other people, and he was subsequently sent to China, where authorities have separately accused him of running fraud operations and concealing proceeds; reporting on his custody status has been inconsistent and should be treated as provisional pending confirmed court records. The Prince Group case is prosecuted separately from the Scam Center Strike Force's San Diego-based cases but is widely described in reporting as part of the same broader Southeast Asian scam-compound network and is treated by DOJ and researchers as illustrative of the network's scale.","heading":"Related Prosecution: Prince Group and Chen Zhi (Cambodia)","sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chairman-prince-group-indicted-operating-cambodian-forced-labor-scam-compounds-engaged","name":"Chairman of Prince Group indicted for operating Cambodian forced labor scam compounds (DOJ)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/14/bitcoin-doj-chen-zhi-pig-butchering-scam.html","name":"Bitcoin seized in DOJ case tied to Cambodia pig-butchering scam","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://malaymail.com/news/money/2025/11/12/cambodias-prince-group-denies-scam-links-after-us15b-asset-seizures-of-founder-chen-zhi/198117","name":"Cambodia's Prince Group denies scam links after US seizes $15B of founder Chen Zhi's assets","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.occrp.org/en/news/chairman-of-alleged-criminal-conglomerate-arrested-in-cambodia-and-extradited-to-china","name":"Cambodia extradites chairman of alleged 'criminal' conglomerate to China","type":"news_article","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"Across the cases described above, investigators and researchers describe a consistent method: scammers make initial contact with victims through social media, dating apps, wrong-number texts, or job-recruitment channels, then build a long-term relationship before introducing a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform or opportunity. Victims are shown fabricated gains to encourage larger deposits, and funds are laundered through chains of intermediary wallets, often mixed with other victims' money, before reaching exchanges. Blockchain analytics firms including Elliptic and Merkle Science have published research describing increasing use of generative AI and deepfake tools to automate victim grooming, translate scripts into multiple languages, and scale operations with fewer human operators; Elliptic says it has investigated facilitators enabling \"industrial scale\" pig-butchering and that two Telegram-based scam-support marketplaces it exposed were subsequently shut down. These AI-related scaling claims come from industry research rather than court records and are treated here as lower-confidence, alleged trends rather than established fact.","heading":"Methods: Pig-Butchering and Romance Fraud Tactics","sources":[{"url":"https://www.merklescience.com/blog/how-ai-is-supercharging-pig-butchering-crypto-scams","name":"How AI Is Supercharging Pig Butchering Crypto Scams (Merkle Science)","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/are-pig-butchering-scammers-using-ai-heres-what-the-latest-trends-show","name":"Are pig butchering scammers using AI? Here's what the latest trends show (Elliptic)","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/pig-butchering-human-trafficking/","name":"Pig butchering and human trafficking (Chainalysis)","type":"research","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"Reporting and official statements place the bulk of the alleged scam-compound infrastructure in Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, with named entities including the Ko Thet Company, Sanduo Group, Giant Company and Prince Holding Group. A February 20, 2026 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, titled \"A Wicked Problem,\" found that scam-compound workers across the region are frequently victims of trafficking, describing alleged torture, sexual abuse, forced labor, food deprivation and beatings, and estimated that credible figures put at least 300,000 people working in such operations region-wide, with about 74% of identified compounds located in the Mekong region; the report said trafficked workers came from at least 66 countries as of March 2025 and that compound revenue in the Mekong region alone may exceed $43.8 billion a year. UN High Commissioner Volker Türk described the abuses as staggering and called for action against the corruption that allegedly enables the compounds to operate. These trafficking findings are UN-sourced and are distinct from, though cited alongside, the DOJ's criminal cases.","heading":"Geographic Infrastructure, Named Entities and Human Trafficking Allegations","sources":[{"url":"https://newlinesinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-20260512-SE_Asia_Cybercrime.pdf","name":"A wicked problem: Seeking human rights-based solutions to trafficking into cyber scam operations (OHCHR, PDF)","type":"research","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/02/un-report-details-grave-abuses-against-those-trafficked-scam-centres","name":"UN report details grave abuses against those trafficked into scam centres (OHCHR)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/02/un-calls-trafficking-into-cyber-scam-operations-a-wicked-problem/","name":"UN calls human trafficking for cyber-scam operations a 'wicked problem'","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/why-southeast-asias-online-scam-industry-is-so-hard-to-shut-down","name":"Why Southeast Asia's online scam industry is so hard to shut down (PBS NewsHour)","type":"news_article","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"Victim-impact figures vary considerably by source and date, reflecting the difficulty of measuring a diffuse, cross-border fraud network. FBI data cited by The Block put 2025 U.S. crypto-fraud losses at a record $11.3 billion, more than half of $20.9 billion in total reported internet-crime losses that year. At the Strike Force's November 2025 launch, U.S. Attorney Pirro was reported by Decrypt as citing a $135 billion global 2024 loss estimate, a figure substantially higher than other cited estimates and not corroborated by other sources reviewed; it is treated here as unverified. The FBI's victim-outreach program, \"Operation Level Up,\" was reported in February 2025 to have proactively contacted several thousand suspected pig-butchering victims and estimated roughly $285–318 million in losses prevented; by around April 2026, reporting put the program's cumulative reach at nearly 9,000 victims notified and an estimated $562–563 million in prevented losses. Investment-fraud researchers and Chainalysis have separately estimated global pig-butchering proceeds in the tens of billions of dollars annually, though methodologies and totals differ across studies and should not be treated as precise.","heading":"Victim Impact and Financial Scale","sources":[{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/399515/fbi-task-force-arrests-276-crypto-scams","name":"FBI task force arrests 276 in global pig-butchering crackdown","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://crypto.news/fbi-saved-victims-an-estimated-285m-from-crypto-scams-report/","name":"FBI saved victims an estimated $285M from crypto scams: report","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://investorclaims.com/blog/fbi-arrests-276-cryptocurrency-scam-centers-pig-butchering-crackdown/","name":"FBI arrests 276 cryptocurrency scam center suspects in pig-butchering crackdown","type":"news_article","credibility":3},{"url":"https://decrypt.co/348333/doj-fbi-secret-service-unveil-strike-force-combat-crypto-scams-china","name":"DOJ, FBI, Secret Service Unveil 'Strike Force' to Combat Crypto Scams Rooted in China","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"As of the most recent reporting reviewed (July 2026), the Scam Center Strike Force describes its casework as active and ongoing: DOJ stated that the five civil forfeiture complaints filed in July 2026 remained open, and prior defendants named in the April 2026 takedown — including fugitives in the San Diego cases — had not all been apprehended. Chen Zhi's custody and prosecution status is unsettled in public reporting, with conflicting accounts about whether he remains in Chinese custody facing separate Chinese charges. No sources reviewed indicate the Strike Force's mandate has an end date; DOJ, IRS Criminal Investigation and FBI materials describe it as a standing interagency task force.","heading":"Ongoing Enforcement Status","sources":[{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409194/us-seeks-forfeiture-25-million-crypto","name":"US seeks forfeiture of $25 million in crypto tied to global fraud investigations","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.occrp.org/en/news/chairman-of-alleged-criminal-conglomerate-arrested-in-cambodia-and-extradited-to-china","name":"Cambodia extradites chairman of alleged 'criminal' conglomerate to China","type":"news_article","credibility":1}],"severity":"medium"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2025-10-14","event":"DOJ unseals indictment against Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi, files $15 billion bitcoin forfeiture complaint, and Treasury/UK sanction Prince Group as a transnational criminal organization.","source":"Department of Justice","source_url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chairman-prince-group-indicted-operating-cambodian-forced-labor-scam-compounds-engaged","date_evidence":"Press Release No. 25-1,031, dated October 14, 2025: an indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn, New York charging Chen Zhi."},{"date":"2025-11-12","event":"DOJ, FBI and Secret Service announce creation of the Scam Center Strike Force.","source":"Decrypt","source_url":"https://decrypt.co/348333/doj-fbi-secret-service-unveil-strike-force-combat-crypto-scams-china","date_evidence":"A Willkie compliance blog post dated November 18, 2025 describes the announcement, matching Decrypt's report that the launch occurred on Wednesday, November 12, 2025."},{"date":"2026-01","event":"Cambodia's Ministry of Interior reports Chen Zhi arrested, along with two others, before being sent to China to face separate charges.","source":"OCCRP","source_url":"https://www.occrp.org/en/news/chairman-of-alleged-criminal-conglomerate-arrested-in-cambodia-and-extradited-to-china"},{"date":"2026-02-20","event":"UN OHCHR publishes 'A Wicked Problem' report on trafficking into Southeast Asian cyber-scam operations.","source":"OHCHR","source_url":"https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/02/un-report-details-grave-abuses-against-those-trafficked-scam-centres","date_evidence":"UN report exposes torture, rape in Southeast Asia's multi-billion dollar [scam industry], dated 2026/02 on ungeneva.org, with coverage describing the February 20, 2026 release."},{"date":"2026-03","event":"Executive order on cyber-enabled fraud cited by DOJ as framework under which Strike Force operations proceeded.","source":"Department of Justice / IRS Criminal Investigation","source_url":"https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/scam-center-strike-force-announces-results-of-us-private-industry-disruption-week","date_original":"2026-03-06"},{"date":"2026-04","event":"Strike Force announces restraint of more than $701 million in cryptocurrency, seizure of a Telegram recruitment channel, takedown of 503+ fraud websites, and charges against two Chinese nationals over an alleged Myanmar scam center.","source":"Cointelegraph / crypto.news","source_url":"https://crypto.news/u-s-doj-freezes-701m-in-crypto-tied-to-global-scam-networks/","date_original":"2026-04-23"},{"date":"2026-04-29","event":"Coordinated international operation results in at least 276 arrests and shutdown of at least nine scam centers; San Diego prosecutors charge four individuals tied to Ko Thet Company, Sanduo Group and Giant Company.","source":"Department of Justice","source_url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/coordinated-takedown-scam-centers-leads-least-276-arrests-alleged-managers-and-recruiters","date_evidence":"DOJ press release dated Wednesday, April 29, 2026, updated April 29, 2026."},{"date":"2026-05","event":"Scam Center Strike Force holds 'U.S. & Private Industry Disruption Week' meetings (May 18-21, 2026) with tech and crypto firms, leading to disruption of millions of scam-linked accounts and $3.8 million in voluntarily frozen crypto.","source":"Department of Justice / IRS Criminal Investigation","source_url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/scam-center-strike-force-announces-results-us-private-industry-disruption-week","date_original":"2026-05-18"},{"date":"2026-07-21","event":"DOJ files five civil forfeiture complaints seeking about $25 million in crypto tied to romance and investment scams; cumulative Strike Force recoveries described as exceeding $800 million.","source":"Decrypt","source_url":"https://decrypt.co/374049/us-seizes-more-than-25m-in-crypto-tied-to-investment-and-romance-scams","date_evidence":"Decrypt reports: 'the Justice Department announced the seizures on Tuesday' and the article is dated July 22, 2026, placing the Tuesday announcement on July 21, 2026."}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/new-scam-center-strike-force-battles-southeast-asian-crypto-investment-fraud-targeting","name":"New Scam Center Strike Force battles Southeast Asian crypto investment fraud targeting Americans (DOJ, USAO-DC)","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/coordinated-takedown-scam-centers-leads-least-276-arrests-alleged-managers-and-recruiters","name":"Coordinated takedown of scam centers leads to at least 276 arrests; alleged managers and recruiters charged in San Diego 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