DOJ and FBI-led Operation Results in 276 Arrests and Shuts Down Nine Overseas Crypto Fraud Centers

The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation announced a sweeping international operation that led to at least 276 arrests and the shutdown of multiple scam centers tied to cryptocurrency fraud. Authorities worked with partners including the Dubai Police and law enforcement agencies in Thailand to dismantle at least nine scam centers linked to large-scale crypto fraud.

These networks targeted Americans and drained millions of dollars from victims.

Several suspects now face federal charges in the United States including wire fraud and money laundering. Investigators said the scam operations functioned like businesses, with recruitment, management layers and structured systems. The networks often followed a pattern known as "pig-butchering," in which scammers built trust through social media or messaging apps before steering victims toward fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.

Once trust was established, victims were guided to transfer funds to fake platforms showing illusory gains, after which the money was moved through multiple accounts and became unrecoverable. Meta Platforms, Inc. provided data that helped law enforcement identify and track the scam networks.

In 2025 Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads. 9 million accounts linked to scam centers that year. Meta recently disabled over 150,000 accounts connected to these networks as part of a coordinated enforcement effort.

Chris Sonderby, Meta's vice president and deputy general counsel, said the company worked closely with investigators.

“Meta is committed to combatting online fraud and scams and we are proud to partner with law enforcement in these efforts.”

“— Chris Sonderby, Meta's vice president and deputy general counsel Sonderby added in a separate statement that "We applaud the DOJ and FBI for their leadership in holding criminal scammers accountable and protecting American consumers." Meta is rolling out new protections on Facebook that show alerts tied to suspicious friend requests, especially those involving accounts with limited connections or inconsistent location details. The company is also rolling out new warnings on WhatsApp to prevent scammers from linking their own devices to someone else's account. Meta is expanding scam detection tools on Messenger that provide prompts for conversations showing patterns linked to common fraud tactics, suggesting actions such as blocking or reporting the account. Fox News reported that even with the arrests and shutdowns, new networks continue to emerge using similar playbooks. The operation highlights the organized nature of these fraud rings, which relied on recruitment, structured management and rapid movement of funds across borders. Officials described the coordinated effort between law enforcement agencies and technology companies as a direct response to fraud that crosses international lines. Victims were often encouraged to borrow money or invest additional funds after seeing fake gains, resulting in devastating losses once the schemes collapsed.”