US Attorney Jeanine Pirro just announced a new Scam Center Strike Force specifically targeting those brutal “pig butchering” cryptocurrency scams that have stolen about $10 billion from Americans annually. The team had already seized over $400 million in crypto before they even officially announced it.
Here’s how these scams work: Chinese criminal organizations text random Americans through social media, build trust over time, and then convince them to invest in fake crypto platforms. By the time victims realize it’s fake, their entire savings are gone and the money’s overseas.
The really messed up part is that many workers running these scam operations are themselves human trafficking victims being held against their will by armed criminals in Southeast Asia. Law enforcement says this scam industry accounts for nearly half the GDP in some Southeast Asian countries.
The Strike Force is going after the infrastructure directly; they’ve already hit two scam centers in Myanmar by seizing websites and satellite terminals connecting them to the internet. Similar operations are happening in Bali, Cambodia, and Thailand.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also designated the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and other Myanmar groups as specially designated nationals, which blocks their assets and prohibits Americans from doing business with them.
US Attorney Pirro says this is essential for making America the global center for crypto while keeping people safe. The FBI’s already heard from about 3,000 victims reporting crypto investment schemes.
Conclusion
The new Strike Force marks a major U.S. crackdown on global crypto fraud networks, disrupting scam hubs, targeting enablers, and aiming to protect investors while strengthening America’s safer, regulated crypto ecosystem.
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