US Cracks Down on Asian Crypto Scams: DOJ, FBI & Secret Service Launch ’Strike Force’

The US government is taking a hard stance against cryptocurrency scams originating from Asia, forming a high-powered inter-agency task force. The newly announced 'Strike Force' combines the muscle of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Secret Service to combat sophisticated crypto fraud operations.

This coordinated effort signals regulators are finally getting serious about protecting investors from pump-and-dump schemes, fake exchanges, and other crypto-based financial crimes that have proliferated across borders.

While the move brings much-needed enforcement power, cynics might note it took billions in losses and election-year pressure to spur action—typical Washington timing.

Americans losing $9 billion yearly from Chinese pig-butchering scams

According to attorney Pirro, these fraud schemes begin with social engineering through the US-based social media platforms or text messages. Scammers build trust with victims, encouraging them to invest in the so-called “legitimate” crypto tokens with exponential potential to reap profits. 

Once the trust is gained, victims are persuaded to transfer funds to fraudulent websites or applications posing as cryptocurrency exchanges. Many of these platforms are hosted by companies within the United States, but the transferred funds are laundered into accounts outside US jurisdiction. 

Criminals running the operations often operate from compounds in Southeast Asia, where workers at the sites are mostly victims of human trafficking, held against their will, abused, and guarded by armed groups.

“Estimates because of under reporting could be as much as 15 times more than $9 billion, and it starts with the devices that you and I hold and use every day to do our banking, to enrich our lives, to communicate with our friends and our loved ones,” Ferris Pirro said at the beginning of her statement.

Pirro insisted that the US government still has the authority to prosecute foreign defendants and seize assets stolen from citizens and taken abroad. “President TRUMP wants the United States to be the global center of the world’s cryptocurrency industry. We will expose and prosecute criminals who abuse Americans’ trust so that all citizens feel secure in their investments.”

FBI Deputy Assistant Director Gregory Heeb promised his agency will work with “partners across the globe” to stop cybercriminals, while Assistant Director Kyo Dolan of the Secret Service noted the cryptocurrency investment scams have grown tenfold since 2019. 

“The organizations behind these scams leverage an ecosystem of criminality, weaving intricate webs of illicit activity. In fiscal year 2025 alone, the Secret Service responded to approximately 3,000 victims,” Dolan recounted.

DOJ publishes strike force operational ranking details

Per the attorney Pirro’s office statement, the Scam Center Strike Force combines the resources of the US Attorney’s Office, the DOJ Criminal Division, the FBI, and the Secret Service. The task force also coordinates with the State Department, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Department of Commerce to disrupt fraudulent operations.

The Strike Force Crypto Seizure team has already confiscated $401,657,274.33 in crypto scams, and forfeiture proceedings have been filed for an additional $80 million. 

The Strike Force operations closed the Tai Chang center in Burma, where authorities seized websites and confiscated satellite terminals that connected the facilities to the internet. FBI agents were deployed to Bangkok to embed with the Royal Thai Police War Room Task Force to combat scam compounds, including the notorious KK Park.

The Treasury Department designated the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and related entities as specially-designated nationals, freezing their assets and prohibiting US persons from conducting business with them and prosecuting 38 Indonesian nationals.

The DOJ team leading the operations includes Assistant US Attorneys Karen P. Seifert and Kevin Rosenberg, and Associate Counsel Richard Goldberg. Its Computer Crimes & Intellectual Property Section will handle the cryptocurrency seizures with assistance from the FBI and Secret Service field offices in the US.

“Our best and brightest are being brought together to secure US infrastructure, return stolen funds to victims, and bring these perpetrators to justice,” Pirro said.

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