Police dismantles 9 crypto scam centers, arrests 276 suspects
A joint international operation involving U.S. and Chinese authorities arrested at least 276 suspects and shut down nine cryptocurrency investment fraud centers.
The crackdown was led by Dubai Police under the UAE Ministry of Interior and targeted crime networks running so-called pig-butchering schemes (also known as romance baiting), a form of fraud in which scammers build trust with their targets through fabricated friendships or romances before luring them to fake cryptocurrency investment platforms that drain their funds.
According to court documents, the victims immediately lost control of the transferred funds, which were laundered through additional cryptocurrency accounts, while the scammers also encouraged them to borrow from family and take out loans to invest more.
Among the 275 defendants arrested in Dubai, Burmese national Thet Min Nyi faces wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges as an alleged manager and recruiter for one of the scam operations known as Ko Thet Company.
Indonesian nationals Wiliang Awang, Andreas Chandra, and Lisa Mariam also face wire fraud conspiracy charges tied to two other alleged scam rings, Sanduo Group and Giant Company.
While Dubai Police arrested Thet Min Nyi, Chandra, and Mariam, and Thailand’s Royal Thai Police apprehended Awang, two additional co-conspirators remain fugitives.
“These scammers thought they were safe half a world away. But their world has changed. Global crime now faces global justice,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.
“Scam center organizers and fraudsters who defraud Americans and others will face justice in American courts and in courts around the world. In contemporary society, fraud is borderless, and law enforcement activity to combat it and eliminate it is as well,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva added.
After analyzing complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), investigators identified numerous victims across the United States and losses totaling millions of dollars from cryptocurrency investment schemes.
According to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, investment fraud accounted for 49% of all scam-related incidents recorded last year, leading to reported losses of $8.6 billion, up from $6.5 billion in 2024.
In November, U.S. federal authorities established the Scam Center Strike Force (a new task force to disrupt cryptocurrency scam networks), following the U.S. Department of Justice’s seizure of $15 billion from the leader of Prince Group (a criminal organization that stole billions from Americans through cryptocurrency investment scams).
This week, European authorities dismantled another crypto investment fraud ring that caused estimated losses of more than €50 million ($58.5 million) to victims worldwide.
