Coinbase freezes $3M tied to Southeast Asian scam rings

Coinbase froze over $3 million in cryptocurrency linked to fraud rings operating in Southeast Asia, U.S. officials and the company said. The Department of Justice announced the results on June 3 as part of a coordinated Disruption Week aimed at online investment scams.

The DOJ’s Scam Center Strike Force led the operation and shared target intelligence with the FBI and the Secret Service. Private technology and analytics firms that participated included Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, SpaceX and TRM Labs. Law enforcement agencies from Thailand, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand joined the enforcement actions.

Officials reported that participants disrupted more than 1.4 million social media and email accounts tied to the networks. Thai authorities arrested seven suspects and opened new investigations connected to the schemes. The operation focused on networks that use social platforms, deceptive messages and crypto payments to solicit and launder funds from victims, many of whom are in the United States.

Coinbase said it froze the assets and described public blockchain records as useful to investigators because ledgers provide a permanent, traceable record of transactions. The company added, “This operation is proof that scammers can’t be stopped by any single company or agency acting alone. It took social platforms, financial institutions, connectivity providers, and law enforcement working in lockstep to hit these networks at nearly every point in the fraud chain, online accounts, financial flows, and physical infrastructure all at once.”

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro highlighted harm to victims, stating, “Cyber-enabled and crypto investment fraud is devastating Main Street Americans, wiping out life savings and preying on some of our most vulnerable citizens.”

The Disruption Week effort followed earlier Strike Force actions. In April, prosecutors charged two Chinese nationals accused of running a crypto fraud operation based in Myanmar and attempting to rebuild it in Cambodia. Authorities have previously restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency tied to scam laundering.

The DOJ described the campaign as pairing federal investigators with major tech and financial firms to interrupt the online accounts, communications channels and payment rails fraudsters use to recruit victims and move funds across borders.