The post US Treasury Sanctions 19 Southeast Asian Entities in $10B Cyber Scam Crackdown appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. In brief The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned 19 entities across Burma and Cambodia that it says scammed Americans out of $10 billion in 2024. The action targets networks using trafficked workers forced to conduct “pig butchering” scams through fake investment platforms and romance schemes. Networks often “rebrand” when sanctioned, but sanctions “disrupt scammers’ easiest routes,” an expert said. The U.S. Treasury Department hit 19 targets across Southeast Asia with sanctions Monday, dismantling major cyber scam operations that bilked Americans out of more than $10 billion in 2024 alone, a 66% increase from the previous year. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated nine entities operating in Burma’s notorious Shwe Kokko hub and ten targets based in Cambodia, all linked to large-scale “pig butchering” schemes that use forced labor and violence to defraud victims through fake investment platforms. “Southeast Asia’s cyber scam industry not only threatens the well-being and financial security of Americans, but also subjects thousands of people to modern slavery,” John K. Hurley, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in the statement. The Treasury accused the operations of specifically recruiting English-speaking workers in order to target Americans, with some scammers reporting quotas for daily victim contacts.  Burma’s criminal compound Chinese national She Zhijiang and Karen National Army leader Saw Chit Thu built Yatai New City as a criminal empire in Burma’s Shwe Kokko, a sprawling compound custom-designed for gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution, and global cyber scams, according to OFAC. Per the Treasury, the compound operates under KNA protection, which profits from both scam operations and utility sales. Cambodia’s fraud infrastructure The Treasury also targeted Cambodia’s scam network, focusing on former casino complexes in Sihanoukville that it claims now operate as fraud centers. The designations include T C Capital Co. Ltd., which owns… The post US Treasury Sanctions 19 Southeast Asian Entities in $10B Cyber Scam Crackdown appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. In brief The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned 19 entities across Burma and Cambodia that it says scammed Americans out of $10 billion in 2024. The action targets networks using trafficked workers forced to conduct “pig butchering” scams through fake investment platforms and romance schemes. Networks often “rebrand” when sanctioned, but sanctions “disrupt scammers’ easiest routes,” an expert said. The U.S. Treasury Department hit 19 targets across Southeast Asia with sanctions Monday, dismantling major cyber scam operations that bilked Americans out of more than $10 billion in 2024 alone, a 66% increase from the previous year. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated nine entities operating in Burma’s notorious Shwe Kokko hub and ten targets based in Cambodia, all linked to large-scale “pig butchering” schemes that use forced labor and violence to defraud victims through fake investment platforms. “Southeast Asia’s cyber scam industry not only threatens the well-being and financial security of Americans, but also subjects thousands of people to modern slavery,” John K. Hurley, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in the statement. The Treasury accused the operations of specifically recruiting English-speaking workers in order to target Americans, with some scammers reporting quotas for daily victim contacts.  Burma’s criminal compound Chinese national She Zhijiang and Karen National Army leader Saw Chit Thu built Yatai New City as a criminal empire in Burma’s Shwe Kokko, a sprawling compound custom-designed for gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution, and global cyber scams, according to OFAC. Per the Treasury, the compound operates under KNA protection, which profits from both scam operations and utility sales. Cambodia’s fraud infrastructure The Treasury also targeted Cambodia’s scam network, focusing on former casino complexes in Sihanoukville that it claims now operate as fraud centers. The designations include T C Capital Co. Ltd., which owns…