Coinbase Freezes $3M Linked to Southeast Asia Scam Networks

Coinbase froze more than $3 million in cryptocurrency linked to scam networks operating in Southeast Asia during a Department of Justice operation held May 18–21 called “Disruption Week.”

The DOJ organized the initiative through its Scam Center Strike Force and worked with major tech and infrastructure companies, including Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, SpaceX’s Starlink, Silent Push, TRM Labs and Zenlayer, together with international law enforcement partners.

Authorities targeted syndicates running romance scams, investment fraud schemes and forced-labor scam compounds that used online accounts, payment channels and physical facilities to defraud victims worldwide.

The wider campaign froze more than $3.8 million in cryptocurrency across platforms, disabled over 1.4 million accounts, led to 63 arrests and produced thousands of terminated Starlink kits, server takedowns and investigative referrals. Seven arrests were made in Thailand.

Investigators traced funds using blockchain transaction records, following money as it moved across wallets and crypto services. Coinbase described the blockchain ledger as a tool to track illicit finance while preserving legitimate uses of digital assets.

The Department of Justice reported increases in reported crypto investment fraud losses: $3.96 billion in 2023, $5.8 billion in 2024 and more than $7.2 billion in 2025, an increase of about 24% year over year for 2025.

Officials noted many scam operations are run from compounds in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, where trafficked workers may be forced to deceive targets abroad.

The DOJ said Disruption Week produced hundreds of investigative leads and referrals for further work. Federal and international agencies involved included the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Australian Federal Police, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, New Zealand Police, the Royal Thai Police and the U.K. National Crime Agency.

Coinbase reported it froze assets “directly tied to these criminal networks” and emphasized cooperation between private companies and law enforcement to disrupt the accounts, servers, communications and payment channels that supported the scam syndicates.