FBI seizes $8B in crypto during Operation Blackout crackdown on scammers’ computers
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FIRST ON FOX — The FBI says it has seized a record $8 billion bust and arrested hundreds of suspects as part of a crackdown on “scams” and organized crime, including one group known as the “Democratic Karen Benevolent Army.”
They have been accused of a worldwide wave of thefts from Americans, including as much as $3 million from a single US citizen who fell victim to online fraud.
The FBI seized more than 127,000 bitcoins during the arrest of one ringleader, Chen Zhi, the CEO of a Cambodian business called Prince Holding Group. That’s worth more than $8 billion — possibly more than $15 billion at the time of the seizure — and officials are calling it the largest embezzlement in US government history.
The Democratic Karen Benevolent Army is an armed group named after the state of Myanmar with alleged ties to the Chinese mob and is currently facing sanctions from the US Treasury for past large-scale fraud. It has been designated as an international criminal organization by the government.
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A large number of devices were seized in an FBI anti-fraud operation in Thailand. (FBI)
Other computers in Asia, Africa and the Middle East are suspected of being tied to Chinese organized crime and targeting Americans, and operations to dismantle other facilities are ongoing around the world, an FBI official told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“Principles of fraud are not just call centers. They are organized criminal enterprises designed to steal from the American people, launder money, and exploit people to a high degree,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“The FBI has been leading this case, from taking down the Prince Group in Cambodia to Operation Sand Dollar in Dubai. We helped free nearly 2,000 trafficked workers, recovered more than $8 billion in fraud from a fraud center, and arrested nearly 300 people,” Patel said. “If you target the American people, we will find you, disrupt your network, and bring all the available tools of the federal government to bear on you.”
In Thailand, photos show that the FBI seized thousands of smartphones, as well as office equipment during an operation there.
In Dubai, local police and the FBI arrested 275 people, six of whom will be extradited to the United States to face charges, the FBI said.
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Each of the nine raided companies was said to be taking in $6 million a year.
The Prince Group is suspected of running similar surveillance networks around the world, authorities said.
FBI agents sit in front of devices seized in anti-fraud operations. (FBI)
Zhi faces federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
An FBI official told Fox News Digital that the agency has been prioritizing attacks on these groups for the past 12 months.
The official said the $3 million case involved one person who was a victim of a romance scheme, noting that other fraud schemes have been linked to mass murders, historically including extortion cases that have mostly targeted young people.
Victims of fraud centers who were tricked or trafficked to work in Myanmar, were trapped in a compound inside KK Park, a fraud factory, and a human trafficking center on the Thailand-Myanmar border after an international attack on companies run by gangs, run by the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) in Myab20, 26, Feddy. (REUTERS/Stringer)
Some of these organizations are said to rely on victims of human trafficking to operate, according to the bureau. Fraudsters often lure people with promises of good wages and work visas to lure them into fraudulent activities, and then force them to commit fraud by threatening them with beatings or other forms of torture.
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The FBI has partnered with Starlink, providing the satellite company owned by Elon Musk with geolocation data to help identify fraudsters using Starlink terminals to engage in fraud. Together, Starlink has set up more than 7,000 terminals in Myanmar, according to the office.
The project emerged from a series of complaints the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received in 2025. Over the course of the year, IC3 received nearly 72,000 complaints detailing losses of more than $7.5 billion related to cryptocurrency investment fraud. The FBI estimates that those figures underrepresent actual losses.
International victims of fraud agencies, tricked or trafficked to work in Myanmar, stand on a boat on the Thai side of the border crossing the Moei River in Phop Phra District, Tak Province, Thailand, on Feb. 12, 2025. (REUTERS/Krit Phromsakla Na Sakolnakorn)
Estimates by the United States Institute of Peace suggest that gangs steal about $64 billion every year.
The extensive Operation Blackout includes at least four separate operations including the aforementioned investigation into the Prince Holding Group, called Operation Zephyr Exodus. Other operations included Operation Sand Dollar, an investigation targeting organized crime syndicates across Asia targeting American citizens in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Another operation was Operation Haochen, an investigation into the Tai Chang compound in Kyaukhat, Myanmar, an area controlled by the DKBA. This area is said to have been linked to Chinese actors. The FBI seized $30 million tied to Tai Chang and other scam combinations.
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The Shunda Compound Takedown involved a joint task force that included the FBI and our Thai partners. The investigation led to the arrest of two subjects in Thailand and the seizure of a Telegram channel used to recruit workers in a Cambodian impersonation scam.
The FBI has also launched a swift initiative, Operation Level Up, an initiative that identifies victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud and informs them of the scams. Through this program, the FBI has already notified 8,935 victims, 77 percent of whom did not know they were being scammed. The notices prevented a loss of $562 million.
