Online Scam Centers in Southeast Asia: Background and U.S. Responses

Contents

• Introduction
• Online Scam Operations in Southeast Asia
• Burma
• Cambodia
• Laos
• U.S. and Congressional Responses
• Scam Center Strike Force
• Select Executive Branch Actions Since 2024
• Recent State Department Foreign Assistance Announcements
• Selected Congressional Action in the 119^th Congress
• Congressional Hearings in the 119^th Congress

Summary

In the past decade, cyber-enabled scam operations have proliferated across Southeast Asia, concentrated in Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, and Laos. People operating from scam centers target individuals for cyber-enabled financial fraud using, for example, promises of fake cryptocurrency investment opportunities or romantic overtures to elicit payment from victims around the world. Scam centers are operated by and beneficial to a range of actors in the region, with criminal organizations from the People's Republic of China (PRC, or China) the most common operators of scam compounds, according to the United Nations.

Scams have had a significant and growing impact both in the United States and globally, though their illicit nature and underreporting by victims make it difficult to accurately measure their reach. The Global Anti-Scam Alliances estimated global losses at $442 billion in 2025. The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated Americans lost $17.7 billion to online fraud in 2025, and U.S. officials have estimated Americans have lost $12.5 billion to scam centers in Southeast Asia specifically. The scam ecosystem also has implications for other forms of criminality, and many of the individuals involved in perpetrating scams are victims of human trafficking. The United Nations estimated that the scam workforce included as many as 300,000 people from 66 countries in early 2025; INTERPOL estimated human trafficking victims forced to conduct online fraud came from 80 countries in late 2025. Approximately 90% of the individuals who facilitated human trafficking for scam center purposes were from Asia, according to INTERPOL.

Congress has considered and may consider a range of legislative and oversight options to reduce the impact of these scams on Americans and strengthen the U.S. government's response against scam centers in Southeast Asia. In the 119^th Congress, some Members have introduced legislation seeking to mitigate the harms of scams on U.S. citizens, sanction and pursue scam perpetrators and beneficiaries, and encourage the executive branch to take additional actions against scam operations in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Legislation introduced in the 119^th Congress includes the Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act (H.R. 5490) and the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization Act (S. 2950). Congressional entities, including the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have held hearings with Administration officials and expert witnesses to assess executive branch actions and further inform congressional responses.

Introduction

In the past decade, cyber-enabled scam operations have proliferated across Southeast Asia, with Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, and Laos serving as the main hubs of scam activity in the region.¹ These scam centers target individuals for financial fraud, using promises such as investment opportunities or romantic scams. Scam centers, some of them organized on a large, industrial scale, are operated by and benefit a range of actors in the region, including criminal syndicates from the People's Republic of China (PRC, or China) and elsewhere in East Asia; local criminal groups; ethnic insurgent groups in Burma; and politicians and other elites, particularly in Cambodia. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has found that criminal actors from the PRC are the most common operators of scam compounds.²

The scam ecosystem has implications for other forms of criminality, and many of the individuals involved in perpetrating scams are victims of human trafficking. Scam center operators have used fraudulent job offers to lure individuals into scamming, and they are frequently held against their will. The United Nations estimated that the scam workforce included as many as 300,000 people from 66 countries in early 2025; INTERPOL estimated human trafficking victims used for the purpose of forced online fraud came from 80 countries in late 2025.³ Approximately 90% of the individuals who facilitated trafficking people into scam centers were from Asia, according to a June 2025 INTERPOL brief.⁴

Scams have had a significant and growing impact both in the United States and globally, though their illicit nature and underreporting by victims makes it difficult to accurately measure the extent of their effect. Various U.S. official estimates place U.S. losses to scams—from Southeast Asia and elsewhere—in the tens of billions of dollars. The State Department estimated that Americans lost $10.0 billion in 2024 and $12.5 billion in 2025 to scam centers operating from Southeast Asia.⁵ The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) 2025 Internet Crime Report stated that, based on complaints reported to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), Americans lost approximately $17.7 billion to cyber-enabled fraud in 2025, a 26% increase from 2024.⁶ Beyond the United States, the global scam economy continues to grow and harm individuals around the world. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) estimated losses to scams at $442 billion in 42 countries over a twelve-month period ending in March 2025.⁷

Members of Congress may consider a range of legislative and oversight options to reduce the impact of these scams on Americans and strengthen the U.S. government's response. In the 119^th Congress, some Members have introduced pieces of legislation that have sought to mitigate the harms of scams on U.S. citizens, sanction and pursue scam perpetrators and beneficiaries, and encourage the executive branch to take additional actions against scam operations in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Legislation includes the Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act (H.R. 5490), the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization Act (S. 2950), and Section 607 of an Intelligence Authorization Act for FY2027 (S. 4615). Several congressional entities—including the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations—have held hearings with Administration officials and expert witnesses to further inform congressional responses.⁸

Online Scam Operations in Southeast Asia

The current form of the scam center ecosystem in Southeast Asia has been molded by a variety of factors, including established channels of criminality, opportunism in ungoverned spaces with limited law enforcement, official complicity or involvement, and knock-on effects of targeted enforcement. Scam operations at first grew in part out of efforts to profit from the lucrative gambling market in the PRC, where betting is illegal. Casino complexes in Cambodia and Burma, as well as gambling operations in the Philippines, became tourist destinations for PRC gamblers and vectors for local and PRC-based criminal syndicates.⁹ Various crackdowns on online and/or illegal gambling, paired with the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the gambling industry, pushed many of these operations to shift toward cyber-enabled scams.

Targeted enforcement measures by local and regional authorities—related to illicit gambling operations and more recently targeting scam centers—have forced scam operations to adapt, disperse, and/or relocate.¹⁰ The PRC government during and immediately after the pandemic encouraged these enforcement efforts to mitigate harms to its citizens and to prevent scammers from targeting Chinese-speaking individuals. Observers have identified those PRC-backed enforcement efforts as one reason the scam industry has expanded its target populations beyond China and Southeast Asia to include the United States, Australia, Japan, and other high-income economies.¹¹ The UNODC estimated losses by victims in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia and New Zealand between $88 billion and $114 billion in 2025.¹²

Scams initiated in Southeast Asia include investment, cryptocurrency, and romance scams; the FBI 2025 Internet Crime Report notes that cryptocurrency investment scams account for the largest amount of reported losses from U.S. citizens, totaling $7.2 billion.²² Confidence/romance fraud, also known as "pig-butchering," entails building trust with a victim—often through a fictitious romantic relationship or friendship—and convincing them to provide increasing amounts of money for a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment; the scammer eventually absconds with all the funds.²³ The increased availability and use of artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency by scammers have improved their effectiveness and complicated their detection.²⁴

Figure 1. Scam Centers in Cambodia, Laos, and Burma, 2023–2025

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia, April 2025.

In the past two years, law enforcement efforts have had a significant effect on the distribution and efficacy of scam centers in the region. In 2026, the Cambodian government publicized law enforcement efforts against the scam economy.²⁵ In 2025, Laos' Golden Triangle Economic Zone, once the central hub of criminality in Laos, was targeted by Lao and PRC authorities, with some of its occupants shifting to other areas of Laos and the region.²⁶ It is unclear if these actions will result in a long-term degradation of scam operations in the region.

Burma

Burma's scam economy has grown rapidly since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic deeply impacted the country's extensive casino industry, much of it located on the PRC and Thai borders.²⁷ Criminal organizations have shifted into scam businesses. These businesses have expanded against the backdrop of Burma's ongoing civil conflicts, which have intensified since a 2021 coup d'etat. That coup elevated a military government that has been largely permissive toward the growth of the cyberscam industry. In 2025, the State Department estimated that more than 120,000 human trafficking victims have been forced into the scam industry in Burma.²⁸ Human rights groups as well as the UN Commissioner for Human Rights cite widespread reports of physical and sexual abuse and forced labor within scam operations.²⁹

Many of Burma's scam centers operate in conflict areas. Operations have grown in an environment in which the military junta and various ethnic groups are contesting control over large swaths of the country. Some analysts say turning a blind eye to scamming operations is a means for the junta to retain the loyalty of some ethnic armed organizations along the country's periphery.³⁰ Despite efforts by neighboring governments, including the PRC and Thailand, to rein in scam operators, the industry has been resilient and has continued to grow.³¹

Since 2023, a major shift in the industry's geography has taken place, after three ethnic insurgent groups successfully coordinated an attack on the military in northeastern Shan State, promising to eliminate scam centers along the PRC-Burma border and accusing the junta of tolerating and profiting from the cyber-scam industry.³² Some experts have speculated that China offered tacit approval for the attack and have suggested that Beijing is willing to allow temporary instability on its border if it stops the human trafficking and scamming of its citizens.³³ High-profile cases of Chinese celebrities being trafficked into Burma have raised concerns about the impact scammers are having in China.³⁴

In the years following that attack, analysts say a number of the organizations that had operated scam centers in the area have moved south, to industrial parks near the Thai border, including Shwe Koko and KK Park.³⁵ In 2025, the Burmese government announced a "zero tolerance" policy toward cyber-fraud, and publicized some raids on large scamming centers, but analysts argue that the policy had had little material effect on the scale of the industry.³⁶ Some observers argue that Burma's ongoing conflicts and the depth of links between the government, some ethnic militias, and criminal enterprises present extreme challenges for international actors to address the cyberscam industry in the country.³⁷

Cambodia

Cambodia's scam economy in part traces back to state and private investments by PRC entities, particularly in the coastal city of Sihanoukville and its special economic zone.³⁸ An influx of casino investment from PRC companies and individuals in Sihanoukville in the late 2010s spurred a construction boom; a subsequent Cambodian government crackdown in 2019 (reportedly spurred in part by the PRC government) on online gambling and other forms of criminality, as well as the reduction in tourism and travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, hollowed out these complexes and left owners in search of alternative revenue streams.³⁹ The scam economy in Cambodia involves political, business, and law enforcement stakeholders, who together protect the industry and benefit from the revenue generated by scamming. They also provide services that allow scam operators to launder money, engage in human trafficking, and elude law enforcement. The estimated value of Cambodia's scam economy in 2024 was equivalent to as much as 40% of the country's formal GDP.⁴⁰ In the 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, the Department of State cited an estimate from nongovernmental organizations that scam operators employ at least 150,000 Cambodian and foreign individuals in at least 350 compounds in Cambodia.⁴¹

The Cambodian government has engaged in periodic crackdowns on these operations, some of which reportedly have been prompted by PRC government pressure to shut down scam operations targeting Mandarin-speaking populations.⁴² In late 2025 and 2026, Cambodian authorities have publicized and pursued a campaign to eradicate scam centers in the country. Some researchers and advocates indicate these efforts appear selective and have yet to affect high-level beneficiaries of the scam economy, though the enforcement efforts appear to be resulting in significant operational disruption.⁴³ Human rights advocates working in Cambodia have drawn attention to the thousands of trafficked individuals unable to access basic services or return to their home countries.⁴⁴ U.S. government agencies have sanctioned a host of Cambodian individuals and entities for their roles in the scam industry, including designating the Prince Group TCO and its leader Chen Zhi in October 2025 (for more details, see "Select Executive Branch Actions Since 2024").⁴⁵

Laos

Scam operations in Laos largely have clustered in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), where a wide range of illicit activities unfold in the border area of Laos, Burma, and Thailand with little to no law enforcement presence.⁴⁶ The GTSEZ was founded in 2007, with the Lao government awarding a 99-year land concession to Kings Romans Group and its leader Zhao Wei, a PRC national.⁴⁷ In 2018, the Department of the Treasury designated the Zhao Wei Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO), which includes the Kings Romans Group, for engaging in money laundering, bribery, and drug, wildlife, and human trafficking.⁴⁸ Lao authorities—reportedly in part due to pressure from the PRC government—engaged in a high-profile crackdown on the scam industry in 2024. Some observers noted that the operation was performative and that the crackdown pushed scam operations into other areas of the country and region.⁴⁹ Analysts estimated that scam compounds in Laos could have been holding as many as 85,000 workers in 2023, with estimated revenue of $10.9 billion.⁵⁰ In 2026, one analysis estimates that 30,000-35,000 individuals may be working as scammers in the GTSEZ.⁵¹

U.S. and Congressional Responses

The Trump Administration has taken several measures since 2025 to target operators and beneficiaries of scam centers in Southeast Asia. U.S. agencies have indicted or sanctioned numerous individuals for their involvement in scam centers, including Burmese, Cambodian, and PRC nationals. The Scam Center Strike Force (SCSF) has been a central piece of the U.S. response.

For details of U.S. domestic policy responses, see CRS In Focus IF13094, Financial Fraud and Scams: The Roles of Federal Law Enforcement and Financial Regulators, by Karl E. Schneider and Kristin Finklea, and CRS In Focus IF13008, Cryptocurrency Investment Scams, by Peter G. Berris and Kristin Finklea.

Scam Center Strike Force

The SCSF, created in November 2025 and headed by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, was formed to "secure America against Southeast Asian cryptocurrency-related fraud and scams" and counter "cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking, and money laundering operations."⁵⁷ It is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Criminal Division, the FBI, and the U.S. Secret Service, among other agencies.⁵⁸ The SCSF also seeks out collaboration in public-private partnerships.⁵⁹ The SCSF website states it is investigating scam compounds in Southeast Asia; working to seize and disable U.S.-based facilities and infrastructure that enable scams, such as internet providers and social media accounts; and recovering stolen funds and returning them to victims. The SCSF reports having "restrained" over $938 million in cryptocurrency related to cyber scam operations as of September 15, 2026.⁶⁰

Select Executive Branch Actions Since 2024

Below is list of selected actions taken by the U.S. executive branch to counter cyber-enabled scam operations internationally, including legal actions and sanctions. Some actions include the October 2025 indictment of Chen Zhi, the head of the Cambodian company Prince Group, and April 2026 sanctions against Kok An, a Cambodian senator and casino magnate. Actions against Chen Zhi and Prince Group reportedly spurred Cambodia to arrest Chen Zhi, who was subsequently extradited to the PRC; some analysts have expressed concern that the extradition was done in part to restrict U.S. access to Chen Zhi and prevent him from disclosing his ties to high-level officials in Cambodia and the PRC.⁶¹

• September 12, 2024. The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Cambodian businessman Ly Yong Phat and various business related to his conglomerate (L.Y.P. Group) for their role in "serious human rights abuses" of trafficked individuals forced to work in online scam centers in Cambodia.⁶²
• May 5, 2025. The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) determined the Cambodia-based Huione Group to be a financial institution "of primary money laundering concern" due to its alleged role in laundering the illicit proceeds of cryptocurrency investment scams perpetuated by scam centers in Southeast Asia, among other reported crimes.⁶³
• September 8, 2025. OFAC imposed sanctions against various individuals and entities associated with scam centers in Southeast Asia, including nine targets in Burma and ten targets based in Cambodia.⁶⁴
• October 14, 2025. An indictment was unsealed in U.S. federal court against Cambodian national Chen Zhi, the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group (Prince Group), for his alleged direction of "Prince Group's operation of forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia."⁶⁵ The DOJ also filed a civil forfeiture complaint against cryptocurrency holdings worth approximately $15 billion, which allegedly constituted Chen Zhi's proceeds from fraud and money laundering. These funds are reportedly in the custody of the U.S. government and constituted the largest forfeiture action in the history of the Department of Justice at the time.⁶⁶ (Chen Zhi was born in China and became a Cambodian citizen in 2014; according to a Bloomberg report, he renounced his PRC citizenship, though the PRC government claims he is still a PRC national.⁶⁷)
• October 14, 2025. OFAC designated the Prince Group as a TCO and sanctioned 146 individuals associated with it, including Chen Zhi, for their alleged involvement in cyber scam operations. In a coordinated action on the same day, the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) also imposed sanctions on the Prince Group, Chen Zhi, and his associates.⁶⁸
• October 16, 2025. FinCEN finalized an anti-money laundering rule pursuant to Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (31 U.S.C. §5318A) to sever the Cambodia-based financial services conglomerate, Huione Group, from the U.S. financial system for allegedly laundering the proceeds of virtual currency scams.⁶⁹ (A cousin of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet is reportedly a director of a company owned by Huione Group.⁷⁰)
• November 12, 2025. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro publicly announced the creation of the Scam Center Strike Force. The SCSF reported multiple completed enforcement actions, including the seizure and forfeiture of over $401 million in cryptocurrency, operations against two scam centers in Burma, the investigation of a network of scam centers in Bali, Indonesia, and the deployment of FBI agents to Bangkok to work with the Thai police to counter scam compounds.⁷¹
• November 12, 2025. OFAC sanctioned the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), an ethnic armed organization in Burma, and several of its leaders for supporting cyber scam centers. OFAC also sanctioned an individual and several entities who worked with the DKBA to develop scam centers.⁷² The DKBA controls parts of Burma along the border with Thailand and is aligned with Burma's current military government.
• March 6, 2026. President Trump issued Executive Order 14390, "Combating Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens." Among other actions, this executive order directed the Secretaries of State, the Treasury, Defense, and Homeland Security and the Attorney General to develop an action plan to counter the TCOs responsible for scam centers.⁷³
• April 23, 2026. The SCSF unsealed criminal charges and arrest warrants against two PRC nationals who allegedly managed a cyber scam compound in Burma and attempted to open another in Cambodia, and announced that the SCSF and its partners had "restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency alleged to be tied to money laundering from cryptocurrency scams."⁷⁴ The SCSF also reported its seizure of a Telegram channel used to "recruit human trafficking victims to a scam compound in Cambodia" and the seizure of 503 fake investment websites.⁷⁵
• April 23, 2026. In coordinated action with the SCSF, OFAC sanctioned Cambodian Senator Kok An and 28 associated individuals and entities for their alleged operation of and profit from scam compounds.⁷⁶ The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) also announced a reward offer of up to $10 million under its Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) for "information leading to the seizure or recovery of funds involved in money laundering related to scams operated out of the Tai Chang scam centers in Burma."⁷⁷
• April 29, 2026. Coordination between the FBI, the Dubai Police Department, and the PRC Ministry of Public Security, with cooperation from the Royal Thai Police and the company Meta, resulted in the arrest of at least 276 individuals and the dismantlement of at least nine scam centers in Dubai involved in cryptocurrency investment scams.⁷⁸
• July 20-21, 2026. The FBI and the government of Thailand jointly hosted the first-ever Scam Center Summit in Thailand, where law enforcement officials and representatives from nearly 20 countries gathered to discuss a cooperative, coordinated response to scam center operations.⁷⁹ As part of his coinciding regional trip, FBI Director Kash Patel visited Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, among other officials, to discuss strengthening joint efforts to combat scam operations.⁸⁰
• July 23, 2026. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a global visa restriction policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. §1182). The policy "targets individuals responsible for, or complicit in, cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, such as those involved in cyberscams."⁸¹ Secretary Rubio specified that immediate family members of such individuals may also be subject to visa restrictions.⁸²

Recent State Department Foreign Assistance Announcements

In addition to implementing visa restrictions, offering rewards, and otherwise supporting the Scam Center Strike Force, the State Department has provided foreign assistance to counter cyber scam operations. The State Department's FY2027 Congressional Budget Justification and current appropriations legislation indicate that assistance to counter scam operations is an ongoing priority. Some scam-related foreign assistance programs include:

• On January 9, 2026, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael G. DeSombre announced $45 million in new assistance to the Thai and Cambodian governments "as they implement the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords," a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement to end fighting on the Thai-Cambodia border. This assistance included $15 million for border stabilization efforts and $20 million "for initiatives that will help both countries combat scam operations and drug trafficking."⁸³
• The joint explanatory statement accompanying the FY2026 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs (NSRP) appropriation (Division F of P.L. 119-75) specifies that, of the $1.4 billion appropriated for the INCLE account for FY2026, no less than $10 million should be used for combating scam centers in Southeast Asia.⁸⁴ The report accompanying the House-passed FY2027 NSRP appropriations bill (H.R. 8598; H.Rept. 119-631) specifies that INCLE funds should "be made available at not less than the prior year level to counter the threats posed by PRC-linked scam centers in Southeast Asia," indicating a recommended funding level of no less than $10 million for this purpose in FY2027.⁸⁵ The Senate has yet to consider FY2027 NSRP funding legislation.
• The FY2027 State Department Congressional Budget Justification indicates that an unspecified amount of the $90.7 million in INCLE funds requested for the East Asia and Pacific region would be used for programs to "strengthen partners' capacity to investigate and dismantle online scam networks that target and defraud Americans."⁸⁶ Additionally, the document indicates that an unspecified amount of the $30 million in INCLE funds requested for Counter-Trafficking In Persons programs would be used for "combating forced criminality in online scam operations."⁸⁷

Selected Congressional Action in the 119^th Congress

In the 119^th Congress, several Members have put forward bills targeting different aspects of the scam center ecosystem and the impact of scams on Americans. Examples of bills that seek to provide U.S. agencies with additional tools to combat scam operations abroad include the Strengthening Targeting of Organized Predatory (STOP) Scammers Act (S. 2670, H.R. 3523), the Scam Defense Strategy Act (H.R. 6770), the Stopping Cross-border Attacks and Manipulation Act (SCAM) Act (H.R. 5900), the Stop Scamming Americans Act (H.R. 9412), and the Scam Farms Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 4988).

Other legislation aimed at countering scam operations in Southeast Asia includes the following:

• The Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act (H.R. 5490), which was reported favorably out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would direct the President to establish an interagency task force chaired by the Secretary of State to develop and implement a strategy to counter scams, report annually to Congress on developments in scam center operations and U.S. enforcement actions against them, and carry out programs in support of human trafficking victims within scam centers. The bill, which has an emphasis on Southeast Asia, would also direct the President to consider sanctions on the foreign persons listed in the legislation, with the possibility of waiving such sanctions if doing so is vital to the national security interests of the United States.
• The Senate-passed Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization Act (S. 2950) would direct the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General, to submit to Congress a global strategy to counter scam compounds and prioritize efforts in Southeast Asia. The strategy would identify all current executive branch foreign assistance programs and diplomatic efforts to address scam compounds, including those related to human trafficking; establish objectives for the federal government response to scam compounds; and identify foreign assistance resources needed for such a response. The Secretary of State would be charged with establishing an interagency task force to implement the strategy. The bill would also authorize the President to impose sanctions on those who have owned, acted for, or provided significant support to international scam compounds. The act would also direct the Attorney General to submit to Congress a report offering recommendations to provide financial redress to the victims of international scam compounds.
• Section 607 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY2027 (S. 4615) would direct the Director of National Intelligence to submit a report on "hostile foreign cyber actors, such as foreign scam centers," including an enumerated list of groups already sanctioned for their roles in Southeast Asian scam centers, such as the Prince Group, Huione Group, and L.Y.P. Group. The report would include, among other subjects, the identification of communications and financial service providers under U.S. jurisdiction that provide enabling services to "hostile foreign cyber actors, including foreign scam centers," and descriptions of the relationships between such actors and transnational organized crime groups and "their governments or countries of origin that could impede the ability to counter threats from such centers."

Other bills aim to raise awareness of scams in the United States and reduce harms on Americans. These include the Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception (GUARD) Act (S. 2544 H.R. 2978), ReportScams.gov Act (S. 4782), Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams (TRAPS) Act (S. 2019, H.R. 4936), and a resolution (S.Res. 627) to raise awareness and promote education of scams, among other actions.

Congressional Hearings in the 119^th Congress

Several congressional entities have held hearings with Administration officials and expert witnesses to conduct oversight of executive branch actions and further inform congressional responses. Hearings have included:

Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Protecting Americans from Global Scam Operations: Assessing the U.S. Response, August 6, 2026.

House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Crime, Corruption, and Power: The Rise of CCP-linked Scam Networks Targeting Americans and Threatening U.S. Security, May 19, 2026.

On May 19, 2026, the House Select Committee concurrently published an investigation, "Crime, Corruption, and Power: CCP-Linked Transnational Crime and the Rise of a Distributed Threat to U.S. National Security."⁸⁸

On September 15, 2026, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast and House Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar sent a letter to Secretary Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. The letter requested investigations and, if determined to meet statutory criteria, the imposition of sanctions on foreign persons credibly linked to online scam centers.⁸⁹ The letter names 26 individuals and 2 companies.

House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement and Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, Online Scams, Crypto Fraud, and Digital Extortion: An Examination of How Transnational Criminal Networks Target Americans, April 21, 2026.

Joint Economic Committee, The Rising Global Scam Economy: Modernizing Federal Approaches to Protect Americans from Foreign Fraudsters, March 25, 2026.

Senate Special Committee on Aging, Made in China, Paid by Seniors: Stopping the Surge of International Scams, January 14, 2026.

Senate Judiciary Committee, Scammers Exposed: Protecting Older Americans from Transnational Crime Networks, June 17, 2025.

Footnotes