FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the FBI is expanding global search operations, targeting massive scam centers that heavily harm the interests of Americans. He told Fox News Digital that the “Operation Blackout” has seized approximately $17 billion in assets related to fraudulent activities.
“Operation Blackout” is a global initiative led by the FBI to identify, combat, and dismantle overseas scam centers targeting Americans. The operation combines overseas raids and asset seizures, aiming to cut off communication of fraudulent networks, rescue trafficked workers, and return stolen funds to victims.
On Tuesday, an exclusive report by Fox News revealed a victim telling the FBI, “I am 71 years old this year, well aware that people of my age are often targeted because we are not very familiar with certain new technologies. Thank you very much for looking out for us.”
“I watched as my grandmother’s life savings were scammed away by scammers, and I hope to see them (the scammers) brought to justice,” another victim said.
Patel mentioned that the FBI-led action is targeting criminal groups operating large-scale scam centers in Southeast Asia and the Middle East; in these centers, trafficked workers are forced to commit fraud against victims thousands of miles away.
“Unfortunately, the primary victims are elderly Americans,” Patel told Fox News Digital. He pointed out that these fraudulent activities are usually carried out through social media, phone calls, text messages, and platforms like Telegram.
“Our ‘Operation Blackout’ aims to prevent, combat, and completely dismantle these criminal networks,” Patel added.
In a common scam method, criminals first establish online friendships or romantic relationships with victims, then lure them into investing in fake cryptocurrency platforms.
Victims may initially believe they are making substantial returns on their investments, only to find out they cannot withdraw their funds in the end.
“These are not just centers, they are literally towns and cities,” Patel referred to the scam centers targeted by the operation, “these are real villages with physical buildings where criminals force people into illegal labor.”
The masterminds behind these scam centers are Chinese criminal groups, which profited from casinos and online gambling in the 2000s. With tightening regulations from the Chinese government, they shifted their operations to the loosely monitored border areas in Southeast Asia, particularly countries like Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, forming alliances with corrupt officials and military factions.
According to U.S. court documents, Chinese-born scam leader Chen Zhi was charged by the U.S. for operating one of Asia’s largest transnational online fraud groups. Chen kept records of bribing public officials, including giving luxury watches worth millions of dollars to a foreign government senior official. In 2020, that official facilitated Chen’s passport, allowing him to travel to the U.S. in 2023.
By the end of 2025, U.S. law enforcement agencies announced seizing $15 billion in Bitcoin from cryptocurrency wallets associated with Chen Zhi, the largest confiscation action of its kind in U.S. history. 180 individuals and entities allegedly linked to Chen Zhi’s fraud organization “Prince Group” are currently facing sanctions in the U.S.
On September 21, the U.S. State Department announced visa restrictions on an additional 32 individuals, most of whom are associated with the Prince Group.
According to the FBI, in August, a operation was conducted against a 200-acre scam center in O’Smach resort in Cambodia; during the three-day search, law enforcement officers searched 28 buildings and seized 113 hard drives, 15 computers, and 35 boxes of evidence.
Fox News reported that the FBI is also committed to preventing American citizens from falling victim to scammers before their funds are taken.
The “Operation Level Up,” launched in January 2024, is a domestic preventive action carried out by the FBI in cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service. The FBI proactively identifies and contacts potential victims of cryptocurrency investment scams. The FBI stated that they have notified 10,406 victims, preventing an estimated loss of $660 million, and have seized or frozen an additional $122 million in cryptocurrency.
The FBI noted that 77% of those contacted were unaware they were being scammed. The agency also arranged suicide prevention measures for 99 victims, shut down 584 fraudulent websites, and transferred 7,670 fraudulent accounts to private businesses for disposal.
On September 9, U.S. Federal Prosecutor Jeanine Pirro announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force took a series of enforcement actions against the Chinese online trading platform “Xinbi Guarantee.” The platform was seized, and approximately $52 million in cryptocurrency was frozen in a single day operation. “Xinbi Guarantee” was accused of operating a large illegal online market offering fraudulent services. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on “Xinbi Guarantee.”
In this operation, personnel from the FBI’s Honolulu office assisted Malagasy authorities in Africa, dismantling 13 scam centers operated by organized crime groups from China and processing over 3,200 electronic devices.
Patel told Fox News that this geographic shift is part of a larger trend of crime networks relocating on a larger scale.
“That’s why you see these scam centers moving to Central and Sub-Saharan Africa, and we have already deployed forces in these areas, ready to take them down in one fell swoop,” Patel said.