TLDR
- FinCEN reviewed 33,904 reports filed between September 2023 and December 2025, identifying $12.7 billion in suspicious crypto transactions
- Money services businesses (mostly crypto firms) filed 55% of reports flagging $5.5 billion; banks reported $6.4 billion
- Scammers converted funds almost exclusively into USDT before moving them through DeFi protocols or overseas exchanges
- Older Americans appeared in about 25% of reports, roughly matching their share of the US population
- Operations were tied to scam compounds in Cambodia, Laos and Burma, where workers were trafficked through fake job offers
The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has linked approximately $12.7 billion in suspicious financial activity to crypto investment scams run largely from overseas compounds in Southeast Asia.
Today, @FinCENnews published an alert and an analysis of financial activity tied to suspected digital asset investment scams. These scams are sophisticated fraud operations that manipulate victims, who are often American. https://t.co/mwZDFmhbvm pic.twitter.com/ZdKRusnL8p
— Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) (@FinCENnews) September 3, 2026
FinCEN reviewed 33,904 Bank Secrecy Act reports filed by around 1,300 financial institutions between September 2023 and December 2025. The scams affected victims across all 50 US states and several territories.
The schemes go by several names, including pig butchering, romance baiting and cryptocurrency confidence schemes. Criminal groups build fake relationships with victims before steering them toward fraudulent crypto investment platforms.
Monthly filings rose steadily throughout the review period. In October 2023, institutions submitted 590 reports covering $485.7 million. By December 2025, that had climbed to 2,482 reports covering $833.5 million, a monthly increase averaging 10.9% in volume and 18% in dollar amounts.
How the Money Moved
Victims purchased at least 22 different cryptocurrencies, with Ethereum, Tether USDT and Circle USDC among the most common. Regardless of what was initially bought, blockchain analysis found proceeds were almost always converted into USDT.
🚨 SHOCKING: US Treasury’s FinCEN has identified $12.7 BILLION tied to suspected crypto scams largely run by Southeast Asian criminal organizations.
The agency analyzed 33,904 reports filed between September 2023 and December 2025.
FinCEN said the scams, including pig… pic.twitter.com/H1qRtkV8io
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) September 5, 2026
From there, funds were routed through decentralized finance protocols or exchanges outside the United States. Some collection addresses received transfers from multiple victims simultaneously, helping investigators link separate transactions to the same network.
FinCEN cautioned that $12.7 billion should not be read as total victim losses. The figure can include attempted transactions, duplicate filings and errors.
Victims frequently used funds beyond regular savings. FinCEN documented cases involving retirement accounts, home equity lines and personal loans. One woman transferred nearly $640,000 from her retirement fund. Another lost more than $1 million over six months.
The Compounds Behind the Scams
Many criminal organizations operate from large compounds in Cambodia, Laos and Burma. Workers are recruited with fake job offers and then forced to contact victims and run the fraud.
The United Nations estimates hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked into these operations. A February 2026 Chainalysis report found crypto payments linked to trafficking rose 85% in 2025.
Authorities have pursued the financial infrastructure. In March, the FBI and Thai police froze around $580 million in cryptocurrency and seized approximately 8,000 phones targeting pig butchering networks.
Cambodia-based Huione became a key example of the supporting infrastructure. Chinese authorities took custody of a former Huione Group chairman in April after the network was linked to more than $89 billion in crypto transactions.
FinCEN’s Rapid Response Program has interdicted $1.8 billion since 2015 and recovered just over $1 billion for 5,790 US victims. The agency urged anyone targeted to contact their financial institution immediately and file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
