US and UK Sign Historic Pact to Dismantle Billion-Dollar Global Scam Networks

A First-of-Its-Kind Alliance Against Fraud

The Justice Department described the agreement as a "first-of-its-kind" international cooperation effort to disable crypto scam centers by conducting parallel investigations, sharing intelligence, and coordinating prosecution decisions. The move signals that two of the world's most powerful law enforcement systems have concluded that going it alone is no longer enough to stop a criminal industry that has grown into one of the most lucrative — and devastating — on the planet.

The agreement brings together the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, England and Wales' Crown Prosecution Service, and the UK's National Crime Agency. Under the newly signed memorandum of understanding, US and UK prosecutors and investigators will conduct parallel investigations, exchange information on organized crime targets, and coordinate decisions over where to prosecute cases.

The Staggering Scale of the Problem

The FBI said cyber-enabled fraud schemes were responsible for almost 85% of all losses reported to the agency, and more than $12 billion was stolen from Americans last year in cyber scams — though that figure is likely a severe undercount, since many victims never report their losses. The human cost is just as alarming as the financial one.

The operations often involve romance scams, fraudulent investment schemes, and cryptocurrency-related fraud, with many scam centers relying on forced labor and human trafficking to sustain their activities. The scams are primarily conducted by human trafficking victims housed in compounds across Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and other countries, with Chinese gangs running the compounds with the help of compromised local officials. Victims on both ends of these schemes — the people being defrauded and the people forced to commit the fraud — are paying an enormous price.

Building on Existing Enforcement Efforts

The US Scam Center Strike Force began operating in November 2025 against Chinese transnational criminal organizations running compounds primarily in Southeast Asia, with its original Justice Department mandate combining prosecutors, the FBI, the US Secret Service, and other agencies to pursue fraud, money laundering, digital infrastructure, and cryptocurrency connected to operations in Cambodia, Laos, and Burma. The Strike Force is led by Assistant US Attorney Karen Seifert, who told Congress in March that it has more than 150 personnel, including prosecutors and agents from the FBI, IRS, and US Postal Inspection Service.

In conjunction with the task force's launch, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, an armed group supporting scam compounds in Myanmar, as well as several companies in Thailand linked to Chinese organized crime. The US has already seized over $410 million in cryptocurrency assets and is pursuing further forfeitures. On April 29, the DOJ said a Dubai police-led operation involving the FBI and China's Ministry of Public Security resulted in 276 arrests and the shutdown of at least nine crypto scam centers, with six people charged in connection with schemes that allegedly used fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms to persuade victims to deposit funds.

What Comes Next

On August 27, Britain separately secured support from Five Eyes — which comprises the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — for faster intelligence sharing and coordinated efforts to disable accounts, communications channels, and financial services used by international scam networks. The web of international cooperation is tightening rapidly around these criminal enterprises.

Officials will also coordinate with private-sector partners on a disruption operation in London this October. The addition of UK law enforcement agencies gives investigators another mechanism for coordinating cases that cross national borders, particularly when criminal networks, victims, financial transactions, and infrastructure span multiple jurisdictions. As these scam compounds have demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and relocate, the strength of this new alliance will ultimately be measured not by the agreements signed, but by the compounds shuttered and the criminal networks dismantled in the months ahead.