U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, together with major federal law enforcement and interagency partners, announced that freezes and seizures of cryptocurrency by the Scam Center Strike Force have topped $580 million, a critical step in the Strike Force’s fight against Southeast Asian cryptocurrency-related fraud and scams, the Justice Department noted in a press release late last month.
These frozen and seized funds have been stolen by Chinese transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), which use cryptocurrency investment scams and various confidence scams to steal the life savings of everyday Americans.
These scammers utilize U.S. internet and social media platforms to prey on American victims. Recent reporting estimates that this scam industry defrauds Americans of nearly $10 billion per year, the press release added.
“In November, I announced the establishment of our Scam Center Strike Force to spearhead this effort.” In only three months, we have made significant progress, freezing, seizing, and forfeiting cryptocurrency worth more than $580 million from these criminals.
Pirro stated, “These criminals don’t care about your identity, beliefs, or breakfast habits—all they care about is stealing from honest Americans to enrich Chinese organized crime.”
“My office and our law enforcement partners around the country are taking this threat head on. Seizures of cryptocurrency is one important part of the Scam Center Strike Force’s work.Through the legal process, my Office will seek to forfeit these funds and return them to victims to the maximum extent possible. To our American victims: we are here for you, we care for you, and we will continue fighting like hell to claw back your hard-earned savings from the hands of Chinese TCOs,” she added.
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The Scam Center Strike Force is targeting some of the most notorious scam operations in Southeast Asia. Chinese transnational criminal organizations are using Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud (CIF) scams, along with various confidence schemes, to steal the life savings of everyday Americans.
The Strike Force teams are focused on identifying and pursuing key leaders, including affiliates of Chinese organized crime operating in Burma, Cambodia, and Laos, to bring them to justice, the DOJ said.
Fraudsters refer to certain schemes as “pig butchering” because they “fatten up” their victims before defrauding them. These scams are often run from compound operations in Southeast Asia.
Using U.S. social media networks and text messages to target American cell phone users, scammers gain their victims’ trust and persuade them to invest in legitimate cryptocurrency. However, they ultimately trick victims into transferring their funds to fake cryptocurrency investment websites and applications.
Many workers in these scam compounds are victims of human trafficking, held against their will, abused, and guarded by armed groups while they are instructed to target Americans. In some Southeast Asian countries where these compounds operate, the revenue generated by these scams is so significant that it can account for nearly half of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), said the DOJ.
The Scam Center Strike Force is a collaboration involving several key agencies: the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division (which includes the Computer Crimes & Intellectual Property Section, the Fraud Section, and the Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Forfeiture Section), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Secret Service.
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Rhode Island and the Western District of Washington, along with the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Unit, are also participating in this initiative, said the department.
“The cryptocurrency seizure team is led by Assistant United States Attorneys Rick Blaylock and John Borchert, along with partners from CCIPS. From the U.S. Secret Service, these cryptocurrency seizure matters are handled by the Global Investigative Operation Center and Field Offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Memphis, Washington D.C., Nashville and Seattle Field Offices,” the release added.
