In a coordinated crackdown on Southeast Asian scam networks, Coinbase has frozen over $3 million in cryptocurrency as part of a broader U.S. Department of Justice operation. The exchange participated in the DOJ’s Scam Center Strike Force, targeting criminal groups involved in romance scams, investment fraud, and forced labor compounds.
Coinbase shared intelligence with Meta, Microsoft, Starlink, and global law enforcement agencies, emphasizing that no single entity can stop these scams alone. The company highlighted that social platforms, financial firms, internet providers, and police must collaborate to dismantle such networks.
Meta disabled more than 1.4 million accounts, pages, and groups across Facebook and Instagram, while Microsoft suspended around 20,000 fraudulent accounts linked to the scam operations. Starlink terminated connectivity for thousands of internet kits used for unlawful purposes. The Royal Thai Police arrested 63 individuals connected to these scams.
The operation leveraged blockchain tracking to follow stolen funds, with Coinbase noting that public blockchain records provide a transparent, immutable, and permanent transaction history, aiding investigators. This comes as crypto-linked investment scams, particularly pig butchering, remain a major threat to Americans.
The recent action follows a wider DOJ push that froze over $701 million in crypto and targeted more than 500 fake investment websites in April. Law enforcement agencies from the U.S., Thailand, Singapore, the UAE, Austria, Albania, and others have also moved against scam centers this year.
Coinbase’s freeze underscores the role exchanges play in fraud disruption, with the company pledging continued collaboration with public and private partners to block criminal funds and protect users.