US DOJ Strike Force Nets $580M in Crypto Asset Seizures

The US Department of Justice's Scam Center Strike Force has made significant strides in combating pig butchering scams. Established last November, the task force focuses on dismantling the global infrastructure behind these sophisticated romance-investment frauds.

Pig butchering scams involve scammers using emotional intimacy to lower a victim's defenses before steering them toward counterfeit trading platforms. The scammers use American social media networks and text messages to identify targets, with many based in compounds across Burma, Cambodia, and Laos.

The Justice Department reports that revenue from fraud operations approaches half of the gross domestic product in some Southeast Asian nations. The strike force brings together prosecutors from the DOJ's Criminal Division, the FBI, the Secret Service, and the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation unit.