US Government Cracks Down on Crypto Scams with $580 Million Seizure

The U.S. government has made a major move against cross-border crypto fraud by seizing over $580 million in cryptocurrency tied to Southeast Asian scam networks.

The funds were frozen through the Justice Department's Scam Center Strike Force, which was formed in November to target cryptocurrency investment and confidence schemes linked to Chinese transnational criminal organizations.

Authorities describe the scams as 'pig butchering' operations, where fraudsters build relationships with victims before steering them into fraudulent crypto investments.

The operations often run out of secured compounds in parts of Southeast Asia, including Burma, Cambodia, and Laos, where revenue generated from scam activity accounts for a large share of local economic output.