U.S., U.K. form joint task force to target crypto scam centers

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales and the U.K. National Crime Agency signed a memorandum of understanding announced by the Justice Department on Thursday. The Justice Department described the agreement as a “first-of-its-kind” international cooperation effort to disable crypto scam centers by conducting parallel investigations, sharing intelligence and coordinating prosecution decisions.

Under the pact, the agencies will run parallel investigations into common targets, exchange information on organized crime syndicates that operate scam centers and consult on which jurisdictions should bring cases. Authorities have identified overlapping investigations and are planning an in-person disruption operation in London with private-sector partners in early October.

The Justice Department cited rising reported losses tied to crypto investment fraud as a driver for the pact. Losses reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center rose from $4.57 billion in 2023 to $8.65 billion in 2025, an increase of 89 percent, the department reported.

The memorandum expands the Scam Center Strike Force, created in November 2025 by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro to target organized crime networks, primarily Chinese groups operating scam centers across Southeast Asia. Prosecutors have linked those networks to fake crypto investment platforms, human trafficking and money laundering.

The strike force includes the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and Justice Department offices. It coordinates with the Treasury and State departments and with private companies to disrupt operations and trace illicit funds.

International law enforcement has coordinated several operations against scam centers. On April 29, a Dubai police-led operation involving the FBI and China’s Ministry of Public Security resulted in 276 arrests and the closure of at least nine crypto scam centers. Separately, six people were charged in the United States over schemes that allegedly used fake crypto investment platforms to solicit deposits from victims.

Governments in Southeast Asia have moved to tighten penalties for digital currency fraud. Myanmar’s military government published draft legislation in mid-May proposing sentences of 10 years to life for digital currency fraud and a possible death penalty where coerced workers at scam centers were killed; Parliament approved the bill on July 28, with presidential assent not yet confirmed.

Officials described the U.S.-U.K. memorandum as a way to combine investigative resources, share evidence across borders and work with private firms to disrupt networks that recruit workers to operate scam centers and defraud investors. Prosecutors described the partnership as intended to make cross-border prosecutions more efficient and to limit syndicates’ ability to relocate or reconstitute operations after enforcement actions.