Fighting Scams at the Source: How Coinbase Helped Disrupt Criminal Networks in Southeast Asia
At Coinbase, we've always believed that crypto done right is a force for good, but that means actively working to keep bad actors out of the financial system. Today, we're proud to share the results of a major joint operation we participated in alongside Meta, Microsoft, Starlink, the US Department of Justice, and global law enforcement agencies to disrupt criminal scam networks operating in Southeast Asia.
What We Did
As part of the US DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force, led by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Coinbase joined industry partners in Washington, DC to share intelligence and coordinate action against criminal syndicates responsible for romance scams, investment fraud, and forced labor scam compounds targeting victims worldwide.
Our contribution: Coinbase froze more than $3 million in cryptocurrency assets directly tied to these criminal networks. We will always work to track and hunt down bad actors to defend our customers and the community. As our VP Leah Bressack stated in the release:
"Scam compounds are one of the most urgent threats facing consumers today, and protecting our customers means going on offense. That's why Coinbase built a Global Intelligence team dedicated to proactively identifying scam compounds and the networks that finance them, working hand-in-hand with law enforcement to take them down. These criminal organizations are sophisticated and well-resourced – our response has to be the same. We're proud to stand alongside DOJ, FBI, and our industry and international partners in this fight."
Why Crypto Is Actually a Powerful Tool Against Financial Crime
We know crypto sometimes gets an unfair reputation when it comes to illicit finance. The reality is the opposite, blockchain technology gives law enforcement something traditional financial systems often can't: a transparent, immutable, and permanent record of every transaction.
Stronger Together
This operation is proof that scammers can't be stopped by any single company or agency acting alone. It took social platforms, financial institutions, connectivity providers, and law enforcement working in lockstep to hit these networks at nearly every point in the fraud chain, online accounts, financial flows, and physical infrastructure all at once.
The results speak for themselves: over 1.4 million accounts disabled, 63 arrests made, thousands of Starlink kits terminated, and millions in criminal assets frozen.
We're committed to continuing this work, because protecting consumers isn't just good policy, it's core to building a financial system that actually works for everyone.
