US and UK Strike Alliance to Tackle $10B Crypto Investment Fraud Syndicates

Law enforcement agencies in the United States and United Kingdom have signed a first-of-its-kind agreement to dismantle international scam centers responsible for billions in cryptocurrency and cyber-enabled investment fraud. For fintech professionals, this represents a significant escalation in cross-border regulatory and criminal enforcement targeting the illicit infrastructure that undermines trust in digital asset ecosystems.

What was announced

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Crown Prosecution Service of England & Wales, and the National Crime Agency (NCA) formalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to disable scam centers committing cryptocurrency and cyber-enabled investment fraud (CIF). These operations, often run by transnational organized crime networks, are estimated to cause approximately $10 billion in annual losses for Americans. The agreement establishes a framework for parallel investigations into common targets and the sharing of intelligence regarding organized crime syndicates. It also creates a mechanism for discussing jurisdictional priorities for specific cases of common interest.

The partnership has already identified significant overlaps in existing cases, leading to a planned in-person disruption event involving private industry partners, scheduled to be hosted by the National Crime Agency in London in early October. The Scam Center Strike Force, which spearheads the U.S. side of this initiative, was launched in November 2025. It specifically targets Chinese organized crime syndicates operating out of Southeast Asia. Data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) highlights the scale of the issue: CIF losses rose from $4.57 billion in 2023 to $8.65 billion in 2025, an 89% increase. Furthermore, cyber-enabled fraud accounted for nearly 85% of all reported IC3 losses in 2025. This MOU aligns with a March 6, 2026, Executive Order prioritizing the disruption of foreign-backed criminal networks exploiting Americans.

"Together we will disable the Chinese TOC networks that are operating these scam compounds and depriving our citizens of their hard earned funds, all while using human-trafficked labor to increase their profit. Standing together, we are invincible.”

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

The companies involved

The Scam Center Strike Force is a multi-agency initiative directed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen P. Seifert. It brings together a coalition of U.S. federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Secret Service, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Other key participants include IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations-DC, alongside U.S. Attorney’s Offices from Alaska, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Western Washington. The Strike Force operates in strategic partnership with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the State Department.

On the British side, the National Crime Agency (NCA) serves as the UK's lead agency against serious and organized crime. Led by Director General Graeme Biggar, the NCA coordinates with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of England and Wales, where Stephen Parkinson serves as Crown Prosecutor. The CPS is responsible for prosecuting criminal cases investigated by the police and other investigative bodies in England and Wales. This international coalition marks a new phase for the Strike Force, which was founded by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to address the intersection of cryptocurrency fraud, human trafficking, and money laundering.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely monitored the increasing intersection of federal law enforcement and the digital finance sector. In June 2024, we reported on how the FBI Leverages Elliptic Intelligence to Take Down $134 Billion Huione Criminal Network, a major action against Southeast Asian criminal infrastructure. More recently, the regulatory landscape has shifted toward identity verification and asset protection. In August 2026, we covered how the SOLO Network Launches Landmark Bank Reliance Pilot with US Treasury and FinCEN for Reusable Identity. Additionally, the broader economic policy environment has been shaped by new financial initiatives, such as when Nasdaq and NYSE Ring Historic White House Bell to Launch Trump Accounts for Child Investing and Chime Expands Support for Trump Accounts and Brings Compound Combine to Texas.

What this means

This MOU signals that the era of "jurisdictional arbitrage" for crypto-enabled scam centers is rapidly closing. By formalizing intelligence sharing and parallel investigations, the US and UK are moving beyond reactive policing toward a proactive, disruptive model that targets the financial plumbing of organized crime. For the fintech industry, this puts increased pressure on exchanges and wallet providers to enhance their "know your customer" (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols. As law enforcement begins to prioritize the return of stolen funds, the sector should expect more aggressive demands for transaction reversals or asset freezes. The central question now is whether private industry can develop the technological defenses required to match the speed of these transnational syndicates.