U.S., U.K. Unite in Historic Crackdown on Southeast Asian Cybercrime Networks
In a landmark collaboration, the United States and the United Kingdom have launched their most extensive joint operation to date, targeting sprawling cyber-criminal syndicates operating out of Southeast Asia. Announced by the U.S. Treasury Department on October 14, 2025, these unprecedented actions target networks responsible for reportedly laundering billions in funds derived from nefarious activity that included online scams, human trafficking, and cryptocurrency fraud, marking a significant escalation in international efforts to combat digital crime.
The operation focuses on the Huione Group and the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization, Cambodian-based conglomerates accused of orchestrating massive scam compounds across the region, including in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. These networks have been linked to “pig-butchering” investment scams that have become increasingly popular and highly lucrative in recent years. Through these long-term ploys, criminals attempt to build a relationship with their potential victims (i.e. “fattening” them up), often over a period of several months to gain their trust before ultimately manipulating them (or “butchering” them, as the method’s name implies) into investing in fraudulent schemes that lead to loss of their hard-earned funds that are non-recoverable. These scams can often begin with nothing more than an unsolicited message on a dating app, social media, or via phishing texts before ultimately blossoming into victims losing significant amounts of money on fraudulent investments, which generally involve investment on cryptocurrency platforms. Given their primarily online nature, international criminal networks such as those implicated in these recent actions have been successful in deploying these efforts across international borders to target the masses. According to U.S. Treasury officials, these operations have laundered over $100 billion since 2018 alone, with these networks boasting significant ties to North Korean hackers and other transnational criminals. These scams have hit Americans particularly hard, with losses related to online investment scams approaching nearly $17 billion annually in the U.S. alone, with nearly $10 billion of this figure being lost to Southeast Asia-based scam operations last year – a 66% increase over the prior year.
Unfortunately, the more successful the efforts of these criminal organizations, the greater their revenue and the further their reach becomes. This makes it significantly harder for international law enforcement to hinder their future exploits. Central to thwarting this illicit activity however are coordinated sanctions. As part of this latest effort, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) levied sweeping measures against 146 entities and individuals within the Prince Group, arguably the region’s top player in the cyberfraud realm. Working alongside the U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), OFAC’s move will effectively freeze assets and prohibit transactions directly initiated by these targeted groups, while attempting to cut them off from the global financial system.
Further, the U.S. Justice Department also filed its largest ever civil forfeiture action against approximately 127,721 Bitcoin (currently valued at roughly $15 billion) associated with this criminal network as part of an unsealed indictment which also charged founder and chairman of the Prince Group, Chen “Vincent” Zhi with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for directing Prince Group’s operation of forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia. 1 The civil forfeiture centers on the alleged proceeds of Zhi’s fraud and money laundering schemes, with these coins previously stored in unhosted cryptocurrency wallets whose private keys the defendant had in his possession. 1 Along with the charges brought against the Group’s figurehead, U.S. prosecutors also unsealed indictments against additional key figures in their operations, including those involved in human trafficking used to staff the scam centers. These compounds, often disguised as legitimate businesses, force trafficked workers – many from vulnerable populations – to perpetrate fraud while under duress.
Speaking on the moves, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated these actions represent “one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud.” They continued, “By dismantling a criminal empire built on forced labor and deception, we are sending a clear message that the United States will use every tool at its disposal to defend victims, recover stolen assets, and bring to justice those who exploit the vulnerable for profit.”
Alongside these coordinated sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) also issued a section 311 final rule that severed Huione Group – an organization that assists in laundering proceeds of cyber heists carried out by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and for TCO’s in Southeast Asia perpetrating virtual currency investment scams – from the U.S. financial system. This group alone was found to have laundered upwards of $4 billion of funds derived from virtual currency investment schemes between 2021 and 2025. By finalizing this rule, covered financial institutions are now prohibited from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for/on behalf of Huione Group, and are required to take reasonable steps not to process transactions for the correspondent account of a foreign banking institution in the United States if such a transaction involves Huione Group, preventing the group from gaining indirect access to the U.S. financial system.
All told, these latest developments build on prior efforts taken by the U.S. government over recent years to disrupt international criminal and fraud networks. They also point to the continued importance of cross-border collaboration and information sharing amongst international allies for bringing appropriate enforcement actions against bad actors in order to limit the scope of their activities. Experts view these measures as a pivotal moment in the fight against cybercrime, potentially deterring similar operations in the region. However, with countless of other similar groups still active, ongoing vigilance remains crucial.
Citations
1. “Chairman of Prince Group Indicted for Operating Cambodian Forced Labor Scam
Compounds Engaged in Cryptocurrency Fraud Schemes.” Office of Public Affairs ,
United States Department of Justice, 17 Oct. 2025.
2. “U.S. and U.K. Take Largest Action Ever Targeting Cybercriminal Networks in
Southeast Asia.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 15 Oct. 2025.