BANGKOK: A senior FBI official said on Tuesday that the United States was “committed to leading the fight” against multi-billion dollar Southeast Asian fraud factories targeting Americans.
Scott Schelble, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s International Operations Division, was speaking at a press briefing after traveling to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, where he visited several scam centers.
“It is impossible to fully grasp the magnitude of these operations until you see them yourself,” he said, referring to “industrial-scale” Chinese-led fraud factories that have proliferated across the region.
“Criminals should not believe that borders will protect them if they target Americans,” he said. “We know where you are and we are coming for you.”
Chinese organized crime syndicates are targeting Americans with scams “every day” through “sophisticated, well-resourced criminal enterprises that exploit borders, technology, and vulnerable people to generate enormous profits,” Schelble said.
