The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has implemented sanctions against large network of scam centers across Southeast Asia that steal billions of dollars from Americans using forced labor and violence, according to a press release. The action includes nine targets operating in Shwe Kokko, Burma, a notorious hub for virtual currency investment scams under the protection of the OFAC-designated Karen National Army (KNA), as well as ten targets based in Cambodia.
“Southeast Asia’s cyber scam industry not only threatens the well-being and financial security of Americans, but also subjects thousands of people to modern slavery,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley. “In 2024, unsuspecting Americans lost over $10 billion due to Southeast Aisa-based scams and under President Trump and Secretary Bessent’s leadership, Treasury will deploy the full weight of its tools to combat organized financial crime and protect Americans from the extensive damage these scams can cause.”
Transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) based in Southeast Asia are increasingly targeting Americans through large-scale cyber scam operations. A U.S. government estimate reported Americans had lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to Southeast Asia-based scam operations, a 66 percent increase over the prior year. Southeast Asia-based criminal organizations often recruit individuals to work in scam centers under false pretenses. Using debt bondage, violence, and the threat of forced prostitution, the scam operators coerce individuals to scam strangers online using messaging apps or by sending text messages directly to a potential victim’s phone.
According to a September 2023 alert from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on virtual currency investment scams, the coerced perpetrators of these scams often use the promise of potential romantic relationships or friendships to gain the trust of their victims. They then convince their targets to make purported “investments” in virtual currency on websites that are designed to look like legitimate investment platforms, but are actually controlled by the scammers themselves. Ultimately, these scammers steal the funds deposited on the platforms. The scam operators specifically look to recruit individuals with English language skills to target American victims. Former scammers have reported that they were directed to specifically target Americans, and some even had quotas for the number of targets per day.
These designations follow multiple Treasury actions undertaken to combat these scams. On May 29, 2025, OFAC sanctioned Funnull, which sold IP (internet protocol) addresses in bulk to cybercriminals to operate scam websites. On May 5, 2025, OFAC designated the KNA as a TCO, along with its leader Saw Chit Thu and his two sons Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, for their roles in facilitating cyber scams that harm U.S. citizens, human trafficking, and cross-border smuggling.
On May 1, 2025, FinCEN identified Huione Group, a southeast Asian financial institution, as a primary money laundering concern pursuant to section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Huione Group has served as a critical node for laundering proceeds of cyber heists carried out by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and for TCOs in Southeast Asia perpetrating digital asset investment scams, commonly known as “pig butchering” scams, as well as other types of cyber scams. In September 2024, OFAC sanctioned Ly Yong Phat, his conglomerate L.Y.P. Group, and four of his hotels and resorts for their role in serious human rights abuse related to the mistreatment of trafficked workers in scam centers.
The original announcement can be found here.
