US sets up ‘strike force’ to combat scam centres in S-E Asia

The US Justice Department has announced the creation of a new “Scam Centre Strike Force” to combat a surge in cryptocurrency-investment fraud by transnational criminal organisations operating out of Southeast Asia.

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The inter-agency task force is designed to investigate, disrupt and prosecute the most egregious schemes, estimated to be defrauding Americans of nearly US$10 billion (S$13 billion) annually.

Criminal networks are running the schemes from compounds in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, where fraudulent revenue can account for nearly half of local GDP in some areas.

Victims in the US are often tricked into transferring funds to fake cryptocurrency websites and applications hosted by US companies, only to have the money laundered abroad.

Both the US and China have pressured Southeast Asian nations to crack down on the operations, as citizens from the two countries have been targeted.

Earlier this week, Thailand extradited, at Beijing’s request, a Chinese-born Cambodian accused of involvement in the scam operations.