The US Treasury Department has been waging a sustained campaign against sprawling fraud networks in Southeast Asia, sanctioning hundreds of individuals and entities tied to crypto scam operations that have drained billions from American victims. Under Secretary Scott Bessent, the effort has escalated from targeted designations to one of the most aggressive anti-fraud pushes in the department’s recent history.
The numbers tell the story. Americans lost at least $10 billion to scams originating from Southeast Asia in 2024, a 66% increase from the prior year. Total online investment scam losses have exceeded $16.6 billion in recent years.
A rolling wave of sanctions
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has executed multiple rounds of sanctions across several months, each one expanding the net wider. On September 8, 2025, OFAC sanctioned nine targets in Burma and ten in Cambodia connected to virtual currency scams. The Burmese side of the operation was linked to the Karen National Army.
Then came October 14, 2025, when the US and UK jointly sanctioned 146 targets tied to the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization. The Prince Group was identified as a major player in Cambodia’s scam economy, responsible for billions in illicit financial flows.
