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The Treasury Department linked approximately $12.7 billion in reported financial activity to suspected digital asset investment scams centered overseas. FinCEN’s new alert outlines how criminal networks attract victims, move proceeds, and exploit financial institutions.
WRITTEN BYKevin Helms
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Published:Sep 3, 2026, 9:20 PM EDT
Key Takeaways
- FinCEN analyzed 33,904 reports tied to $12.7 billion in suspected activity.
- Suspected scam activity affected people across every U.S. state.
- Criminal networks used stablecoins, shell companies, and money mules.
FinCEN Analysis Tracks $12.7 Billion in Suspected Activity
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) identified approximately $12.7 billion in financial activity tied to suspected digital asset investment scams, according to a Sept. 3 announcement. FinCEN analyzed 33,904 Bank Secrecy Act reports filed from Sept. 8, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2025, involving people across all 50 states and several U.S. territories.
“Criminals use fake personas and social engineering tactics to manipulate victims, who are often American, into transferring funds to fraudulent digital asset investments,” FinCEN stated, adding:
“These scams are largely perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations based in Southeast Asia, which operate industrial-scale scam compounds and leverage vast networks of criminal actors to facilitate and profit from scams.”
The $12.7 billion figure represents suspected financial activity reported by institutions, rather than verified losses suffered by victims. Reports can include attempted or unpaid transactions, amended filings, transfers between accounts, and both lawful and illicit activity associated with a reported subject. Separately, the FBI recorded $11.37 billion in victim-reported cryptocurrency losses during 2025, including approximately $7.2 billion attributed to cryptocurrency investment fraud.
Overseas Scam Centers Build Networks Around Victims’ Funds
Transnational criminal organizations, predominantly based in Southeast Asia, operate industrial-scale centers that use false identities and social engineering to establish personal or business relationships with prospective victims. The report published alongside FinCEN’s scam-center alert said fraudulent websites and applications imitate legitimate investment services, display fictitious gains, and pressure targets to transfer more money.
Operators also obtain phishing, account creation, and laundering services through online markets known as guarantee marketplaces. Professional money launderers set up shell companies and financial accounts, move funds through networks of money mules, and send proceeds to digital asset exchanges outside the United States. Nearly all scam proceeds ended up in stablecoins, almost exclusively USDT, FinCEN found using blockchain analytics tools.
Federal authorities have pursued the infrastructure supporting these operations through seizures, sanctions, criminal cases, and international cooperation. A federal strike force had frozen or seized more than $580 million in cryptocurrency tied to Southeast Asian scam centers by March, according to earlier reporting on the enforcement campaign.
Authorities announced another international operation in April that resulted in at least 276 arrests and nine dismantled scam centers. Prosecutors said the alleged networks used fake investment platforms, relationship-building tactics, and rapid cryptocurrency transfers to remove victims’ assets from their control.
Treasury Urges Banks to Watch for Scam-Center Red Flags
FinCEN asked financial institutions to monitor transactions involving suspected scam operators, money mules, shell companies, guarantee marketplaces, and professional laundering networks. The alert also encourages voluntary information sharing under Section 314(b) of the USA Patriot Act and requests that institutions include the key term “FIN-2026-SCAMCENTERS” when filing related suspicious activity reports.
The alert advances the objectives of a March 6 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/combating-cybercrime-fraud-and-predatory-schemes-against-american-citizens/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>White House executive order that declared a policy of protecting Americans from cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes. FinCEN said Bank Secrecy Act reporting is essential to law enforcement investigations and efforts to recover victims’ funds.
Common warning signs include unsolicited messages, promises of unusually high returns, requests to use unfamiliar investment platforms, and demands for extra fees before withdrawals. Crypto fraud often involves fake exchanges, romance-based investment pitches, phishing attempts, and unsolicited messages designed to gain a victim’s trust. FinCEN urged victims to contact their financial institutions immediately and report incidents to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center or the nearest U.S. Secret Service field office.
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Source: news.bitcoin.com