US and UK Join Forces to Dismantle Billion-Dollar Global Scam Networks
Finn's Take· TL;DR- US and UK prosecutors will now coordinate investigations into billion-dollar fraud networks, sharing intelligence and jointly deciding prosecution strategies across borders.
- Organized scam compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia—run by Chinese gangs using human trafficking victims—stole over $12 billion from Americans last year alone.
- Agencies plan October disruption event with financial institutions and tech firms to eliminate gaps criminal networks exploit between national jurisdictions.
A Historic Partnership Against Organized Fraud
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales, and the UK's National Crime Agency signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cross-border efforts against scam operations — the first international cooperation pact of its kind specifically focused on disrupting such centers. The agreement, signed on September 3, represents a major escalation in the global fight against cyber-enabled fraud that has devastated millions of victims across both countries.
Under the memorandum, US and UK prosecutors and investigators will conduct parallel investigations, exchange information on organized crime targets, and coordinate decisions over where to prosecute cases. Investigators also plan to trace stolen assets through wallets, exchanges, intermediaries, and financial accounts supporting these criminal networks. The deal marks a turning point: rather than each country chasing the same criminal networks independently, they will now move in lockstep.
The Staggering Scale of the Problem
More than $12 billion was stolen from Americans last year in cyber scams, but the figure is likely a severe undercount considering many victims do not report losses. The FBI said cyber-enabled fraud schemes were responsible for almost 85% of all losses reported to the agency. These are not small-time con artists — they are highly organized criminal enterprises operating at an industrial scale.
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. 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. Victims on both ends — those defrauded of their savings and those forced to carry out the fraud — are being exploited simultaneously.
Who Is Leading the Charge
The new arrangement builds on the U.S. Scam Center Strike Force, launched by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro in November 2025. The Scam Center Strike Force is led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Seifert, who told Congress in March that it has more than 150 personnel including prosecutors and agents from the FBI, IRS, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The UK's National Crime Agency brings its own deep expertise in tracing international money flows and dismantling organized crime rings.
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) previously announced sanctions against the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), an armed group supporting scam compounds in Myanmar, as well as several companies in Thailand linked to Chinese organized crime. The U.S. Justice Department also seized approximately $15 billion worth of bitcoin associated with Prince Group CEO Chen Zhi as part of prior action against the network. These earlier moves laid the groundwork for the broader alliance now in place.
What Comes Next
The agencies are planning an in-person disruption event with private-sector partners in London in early October. That gathering is expected to bring together financial institutions, technology companies, and law enforcement to further tighten the noose around criminal networks that have long exploited gaps between national jurisdictions. 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.
The US-UK agreement follows other international actions targeting cryptocurrency scam operations, including an April 29 Dubai police-led operation involving the FBI and China's Ministry of Public Security that resulted in 276 arrests and the shutdown of at least nine crypto scam centers. The momentum is building. For the criminal enterprises that have operated with near-impunity for years, the walls are closing in from multiple directions — and for the first time, those directions are coordinated.