FinCEN links $12.7B to crypto scams run from Southeast Asian compounds

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has linked approximately $12.7 billion in suspicious financial activity to digital asset investment scams. An analysis of 33,904 reports filed between September 2023 and December 2025 reveals that these schemes are largely operated from scam compounds in Cambodia, Laos, and Burma, where human trafficking is frequently used to supply labor.

Financial institutions reported the activity in varying proportions: banks flagged $6.4 billion, while money services businesses—primarily crypto firms—filed 55% of the reports, totaling $5.5 billion. Securities firms accounted for the remaining $784.5 million. Scammers utilized at least 22 different digital assets, but investigators found that proceeds were almost exclusively converted into the stablecoin USDT before being moved through decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols or overseas exchanges.

The scams, which include tactics such as ‘pig butchering’ and romance baiting, have affected victims across all 50 U.S. states. While older adults appeared in roughly 25% of the reports, FinCEN noted that this demographic is not disproportionately victimized relative to their share of the population. Victims have funded these losses through various means, including retirement accounts, mortgages, and personal loans.