The U.S. Department of Justice has dismantled a sprawling cryptocurrency scam network operating across Southeast Asia, seizing over $700 million in illicit digital assets. The operation targeted fraudulent investment platforms and labor trafficking rings that forced workers to perpetuate financial scams under threat of violence.

Investigators uncovered industrial-scale scam compounds along the Myanmar-Thailand border and in Cambodia, where trafficked individuals were coerced into running sophisticated crypto fraud schemes. The DOJ charged two Chinese nationals for managing one such compound in Myanmar, while taking down 500+ fraudulent investment websites and a Telegram recruitment channel.

The scams involved presenting victims with falsified crypto investment returns before ultimately stealing their deposits. Authorities continue tracing and recovering stolen funds to return to victims worldwide.