U.S. anti-scam operation draws Coinbase, Meta and SpaceX, freezes $3.8 million in crypto

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Highlights

The U.S. DOJ's 'Disruption Week' operation, supported by Meta, Coinbase, SpaceX and others, freezes more than $3.8 million in crypto tied to Southeast Asian fraud networks.
Coinbase disables over $3 million in assets and the campaign terminates more than 1.4 million accounts, 63 arrests, and thousands of Starlink kits linked to scams.
FBI data shows U.S. cryptocurrency investment fraud losses rose 24% to more than $7.2 billion in 2025, highlighting continued growth of scam operations from Southeast Asia.

Operation scope and enforcement actions

As reported by the U.S. Department of Justice, the "Disruption Week" operation freezes more than $3.8 million in cryptocurrency connected to fraud schemes and targets networks operating in Southeast Asia. The department says Apple, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Silent Push, SpaceX, TRM Labs and Zenlayer join the effort, with Meta helping coordinate the event and encourage broader private-sector participation.

The DOJ says the operation leads to seven arrests in Thailand by the Royal Thai Police Anti-Cyber Scam Center, while multiple scammers and scam platforms are identified and referred to U.S. authorities for investigation and possible prosecution. Federal investigators from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations provide intelligence on targets.

Coinbase says separately that it freezes more than $3 million in cryptocurrency assets tied to the criminal networks. The company adds that the broader campaign results in more than 1.4 million disabled accounts, thousands of Starlink kits terminated, 63 arrests in total, and the decommissioning of servers, colocation environments and hosting infrastructure linked to the scam networks.

Regional fraud pressure and industry impact

Foreign agencies also take part in what the DOJ calls a first-of-its-kind event, including the Australian Federal Police, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, New Zealand Police, Royal Thai Police and the UK National Crime Agency. FBI Director Kash Patel says partnerships across law enforcement and the private sector are helping prevent further victimization.

The DOJ says data from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center shows reported losses from cryptocurrency investment fraud rise 24% to more than $7.2 billion in 2025, from $5.8 billion in 2024 and $3.96 billion in 2023. The department adds that many schemes are run from large scam compounds in Cambodia, Laos and Burma along the Thai border, where criminal syndicates often lure workers with promises of high-paying jobs before forcing them into fraud operations targeting victims in the U.S. and other countries.

Our earlier article on the DOJ’s “Disruption Week” detailed a coordinated push by U.S. agencies, international partners, and major tech and crypto companies to disrupt Southeast Asia-based scam networks tied to crypto investment fraud. It noted the voluntary freezing of about $3.8 million in crypto, the disabling of more than 1.4 million scam-linked accounts and infrastructure, and arrests in Thailand—set against sharply rising reported U.S. losses from crypto investment scams.

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