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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned people and organizations it says are linked to scam compounds in Southeast Asia through a series of actions from September 2025 to September 2026—not one single operation. The designations have covered targets in Burma and Cambodia, including networks Treasury links to forced labor and online fraud. Separate criminal cases, asset seizures, forfeiture proceedings and a financial-system measure have accompanied some of the sanctions, but they are different legal actions.
What the sanctions target—and what they do
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of Treasury, designates individuals and entities under U.S. sanctions authorities. In general, a designation blocks property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from conducting transactions with designated parties unless an authorization or exception applies. A sanction is a restriction on dealings; it is not, by itself, a criminal conviction or a court finding that every allegation is true.
Treasury describes the designated targets as connected to scam compounds, networks or people who support them. The target counts in different announcements refer to different sets of people and entities, so they should not be added together as a count of unique offenders or treated as a measure of the campaign’s total reach.
How the campaign has unfolded
The dates below refer to separate Treasury announcements. The table distinguishes OFAC sanctions from other actions reported alongside them.
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| Date | Geography and targets described by Treasury | Action and distinction |
|---|---|---|
| September 8, 2025 | Shwe Kokko, Burma, and Cambodia | OFAC designated nine targets operating in Shwe Kokko and ten targets based in Cambodia. Treasury linked the targets to scam centers and associated forced labor and violence. |
| October 14, 2025 | Cambodia-based Prince Group transnational criminal organization (TCO); Cambodia-based Huione Group | OFAC imposed sanctions on 146 targets within the Prince Group TCO. Separately, FinCEN finalized a rule under Section 311 to sever Huione Group from the U.S. financial system. The FinCEN measure is not an OFAC designation. |
| November 12, 2025 | Burma; companies and individuals linked to scam compounds, including the Tai Chang compound | Treasury announced sanctions against a Burma armed group and other linked companies and individuals. Treasury identified Burma, Cambodia and Laos as the focus of the Scam Center Strike Force. |
| April 23, 2026 | Cambodian senator Kok An and people and entities in his network | OFAC designated Kok An and 28 individuals and entities Treasury said were connected to scam compounds and fraud targeting Americans. The same announcement described separate charges and seizures by the Scam Center Strike Force. |
| June 23, 2026 | Prince Group TCO-linked network | Treasury reported OFAC sanctions against nine individuals and 26 entities linked to the Prince Group TCO. |
| September 9, 2026 | Xinbi Guarantee and two supporting entities | Treasury announced designations. DOJ separately reported seizing infrastructure and digital-asset wallets used by Xinbi Guarantee. Treasury’s account connects the marketplace to support for scam networks; this was not described as a scam-hub designation. |
How scam compounds can combine fraud and trafficking
Treasury says some networks recruit workers with false technology or customer-service job offers. People may then have their passports confiscated, face debt bondage, violence or threats, and be forced to scam strangers online. Some people working in these compounds are trafficking victims coerced into criminal activity; describing every worker as a willing participant would ignore that distinction.
One fraud pattern described in Treasury’s account of a September 2023 FinCEN alert begins with a friendship or romance narrative used to gain a target’s trust. The scammer then steers the person toward a purported digital-asset investment website controlled by the scammers. This is often called a “pig-butchering” scam. The described pattern is useful for recognizing one type of fraud, but it does not establish that every sanctioned network used the same approach.
- Be wary when a new online contact quickly turns a personal relationship into investment advice.
- Do not rely on a website, app or account introduced by that contact to verify an investment or its returns.
- Pause before sending cryptocurrency: transfers can be difficult or impossible to reverse, and apparent account balances may be fabricated.
What the reported loss and seizure figures mean
Treasury reported a U.S. government estimate that Southeast Asia-based scam operations caused at least $10 billion in U.S. losses during 2024, a 66 percent increase over the prior year. This is an estimate of losses to U.S. victims for that year—not a measured worldwide total, nor a figure for every kind of scam.
Treasury’s 2026 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment also describes approximately 127,271 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $15 billion at the time of seizure, as the subject of a DOJ civil forfeiture complaint related to alleged fraud and money-laundering schemes. A civil forfeiture complaint is a legal claim about assets, not a final judgment that establishes guilt. This figure is not a tally of assets frozen by the Southeast Asia sanctions listed above.
How sanctions fit alongside other enforcement
OFAC designations, criminal prosecutions, asset seizures, forfeiture proceedings and FinCEN’s Section 311 action can appear in the same broader effort, but they do different things. OFAC restricts dealings with designated parties. Criminal charges accuse defendants of crimes and must be resolved through the criminal process. A seizure takes custody of property under legal authority; forfeiture proceedings determine whether the government may permanently take it. FinCEN’s Section 311 rule addresses access to the U.S. financial system for a specified foreign financial institution or class of transactions.
Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said in the September 8, 2025 announcement: “Southeast Asia’s cyber scam industry not only threatens the well-being and financial security of Americans, but also subjects thousands of people to modern slavery.” That statement captures why the campaign involves both financial restrictions and concern about forced labor, while each named target’s alleged conduct remains a matter for the relevant legal process.
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