The US Department of Justice announced on November 12 that it was launching a Scam Center Strike Force with the FBI and US Secret Service, focusing on transnational scam networks in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
The task force will investigate, disrupt and prosecute major scam operations and their leaders, coordinating with the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the State Department on sanctions, asset seizures and criminal prosecutions. Its work also includes public awareness and assistance to victims.
According to US government figures cited in the report, Americans lost more than US$10 billion to these scams in 2024, a 66 percent increase. The report described workers subjected to daily quotas, English-speaking scammers and fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes that had left some US victims bankrupt.
Compiled report.
