

U.S. Steps Up Crackdown on Online Scams Directed From Southeast Asia
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Trump administration announced criminal charges, sanctions and multimillion-dollar rewards aimed at combating online scams coming out of Southeast Asia and targeting Americans.The measures—some of which were directed at a Cambodian senator featured in a recent Wall Street Journal investigation into cyber-scam operations in the country—are the latest attempt by the U.S. to stem the fast-growing illicit industry.Americans alone lost $10 billion to online fraud originating from Southeast Asian nations in 2024, according to U.S.
government data. Some estimates put the global criminal proceeds of the predominantly Chinese cybergangs based in hot spot nations like Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos at more than $60 billion a year.U.S.
Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Thursday announced charges of wire-fraud conspiracy against two Chinese men she said were managers in a Myanmar scam compound from where enslaved workers were forced to defraud Americans using fake websites and mobile apps.After their Myanmar compound was closed down, the two men moved to another scam compound in Cambodia, Pirro said, before they were arrested in Thailand early this year on immigration charges.“We look forward to prosecuting them in the United States,” Pirro said. The two men, who are currently in custody in Thailand, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.The Justice Department also published scripts and other documents it said were seized from a Cambodian scam compound that showed Americans are now also being targeted by a version of a Hollywood-style scam that has made headlines in India.In the scam uncovered by the Justice Department, victims received cold calls from individuals posing as staff of large U.S.
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