The US Department of Justice is taking action against fraud centers in Southeast Asia
The United States has filed criminal charges against two Chinese nationals accused of running a scam in Myanmar in which trafficked workers were forced to run a cryptocurrency investment scam targeting Americans, the US Department of Justice said Friday.
The Department of Justice identified the suspects as Huang Xingshan and Jiang Wen Jie, and said both were charged with wire fraud in connection with operations at the Shunda complex in Min Let Pan, Myanmar, and an attempted expansion into Cambodia.
At a press conference, Jeanine Ferris Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said the men were being held in Thailand on immigration charges after Thai authorities arrested them earlier this year. US prosecutors are seeking their extradition to Washington to stand trial under an agreement between the two countries.
“Cryptocurrency fraud and investing, known by fraudsters as hog-slaying, is among the fastest-growing and most financially damaging forms of cybercrime, targeting not only Americans, but people around the world,” Ms. Pirro told reporters.
“The Scam Center Strike Force has seen all different scams targeting Americans to include romance scams, legal and impersonation scams, investment advice scams, and lifestyle influencer scams. There has been a huge increase in impersonation scams recently,” he said.
Investigators reviewed more than 8,000 phones and 1,500 computers recovered after the Shunda compound was seized in November 2025, Ms Pirro said.
Evidence allegedly shows a campaign in China, by management where trafficked workers are arrested against their will and threatened with violence if they fail to meet the targets of the fraud.
Ms Pirro said the milestone was part of a wider attack on Southeast Asian scam centers that led to the takedown of 503 bogus investment websites and a Telegram channel with more than 6,000 followers used to recruit forced labor in Cambodia. Authorities also seized more than $701.96 million in cryptocurrency linked to money laundering programs.
“We have taken down more than 500 websites that are used to steal people’s money,” said Ms.
The case is the latest move by the Scam Center Strike Force, a Department of Justice-led initiative established in November 2025 to combat cyber-enabled financial crime, human trafficking and money laundering linked to compounds centered in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
Ms. Pirro said the team is also working with regional governments, including the Philippines, where US law enforcement is in contact with local officials, although she did not mention the specific supercomputers currently operating there.
“We are very focused on Cambodia, Burma and Laos, as I said, which are the three hotspots according to many public reports, as well as the records of social media providers,” he said.
“Regarding the Philippines, we have our official FBI and DOJ attached to the Philippines, and we are currently cooperating with their government, I’m happy to say,” he said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has received reports of an estimated $5.8 billion in losses from cryptocurrency investment fraud in 2024, and the Department of Justice said losses increased another 24% in 2025 to more than $7.2 billion.
In similar actions announced Friday, Ms. Pirro said the State Department is currently offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the seizure of funds related to the Tai Chang scam compound in Burma. He said private companies including JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, and Meta are helping efforts to disrupt the networks that cause scams.
Ms. Pirro added that the campaign aims to protect victims and dismantle networks involved in coercion, abuse and human trafficking across the region. – Erika Mae P. Sinaking
