The U.S. Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force reported freezing and seizing hundreds of millions of dollars in digital assets tied to transnational crypto investment scams operating from parts of Southeast Asia. Officials said seized funds — reported at roughly $578 million and rising — are being pursued for forfeiture and victim restitution.

U.S. prosecutors and federal enforcement partners announced that the Scam Center Strike Force, led from Washington, has frozen and seized digital assets totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars tied to transnational crypto investment frauds including so‑called ‘pig‑butchering’ schemes. The reported figure of approximately $578 million reflects coordinated tracing operations that followed funds through exchanges, mixers and cross‑border banking relationships to identify wallets and intermediaries used by criminal networks based in parts of Southeast Asia. DOJ and Strike Force personnel indicated seized assets are being processed for forfeiture and to provide restitution to victims, and that the operations represent a strategic push to trace, freeze and repatriate proceeds from large cross‑border fraud rings. The public disclosures framed the actions as part of an intensifying law enforcement effort to combine financial forensics, international cooperation and regulatory engagement with crypto platforms to reduce safe havens for fraud proceeds and disrupt the infrastructure enabling large‑scale investment scams.