{"id":910280,"date":"2026-06-04T10:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/coinbase-freezes-3m-tied-to-southeast-asia-crypto-fraud-networks\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:12:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:12:30","slug":"coinbase-freezes-3m-tied-to-southeast-asia-crypto-fraud-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/coinbase-freezes-3m-tied-to-southeast-asia-crypto-fraud-networks\/","title":{"rendered":"Coinbase freezes $3M tied to Southeast Asia crypto fraud networks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Coinbase freezes $3M tied to Southeast Asia crypto fraud networks<\/h2>\n
\n

Latest News<\/a>Published<\/span>Jun 4, 2026<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Authorities around the world have been heavily targeting scam infrastructure this year, with joint actions involving the US, UAE, China, Austria and Albania. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Crypto exchange Coinbase said it froze more than $3 million in cryptocurrency tied to a global operation targeting cyber-enabled crypto scam networks in Southeast Asia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The operation was part of Disruption Week led<\/a> by the US Department of Justice\u2019s Scam Center Strike Force, which brought together government entities and private industries to tackle crypto fraud targeting Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis operation is proof that scammers can’t be stopped by any single company or agency acting alone,\u201d said<\/a> Coinbase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took social platforms, financial institutions, connectivity providers, and law enforcement working in lockstep to hit these networks at nearly every point in the fraud chain, online accounts, financial flows, and physical infrastructure all at once.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The operation also involved Meta, Microsoft and Starlink, which worked together to take down servers and other hosting infrastructure linked to scam networks and disrupt criminal activity across more than 1.4 million social media and email accounts, leading to several arrests by the Royal Thai Police Anti-Cyber Scam Center.<\/p>\n

Investment fraud and pig butchering are among the fastest-growing and most financially devastating forms of fraud targeting Americans, the DOJ said. The FBI reported earlier this month that Americans’ losses<\/a> from crypto- and AI-related scams in 2025 exceeded $11 billion, with investment scams the most damaging.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Source: <\/em>US Attorney DC<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know crypto sometimes gets an unfair reputation when it comes to illicit finance. The reality is the opposite. Blockchain technology gives law enforcement something traditional financial systems often can’t: a transparent, immutable and permanent record of every transaction,\u201d Coinbase added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other members of the coalition included the FBI, the US Secret Service and law enforcement partners in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>OFAC sanctions Cambodian politician linked to pig butchering scam centers<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Meta said<\/a> it shared \u201cactionable insights\u201d from all those involved, which helped \u201cconnect the dots between disparate pieces of information across platforms. The collective effort of these tech companies enabled the operation to target and disrupt criminals at nearly every point in the fraud chain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Authorities around the world have been heavily targeting scam infrastructure<\/a> this year. In April, the US Scam Center Strike Force and its law enforcement partners targeted scam centers and froze more than $701 million in crypto linked to investment scams.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a Dubai police-led international crackdown on scam rings<\/a> resulted in the arrest of 276 individuals and the shutdown of at least nine crypto scam centers.<\/p>\n

In another police action involving Austrian and Albanian authorities, with support from Europol and Eurojust, 10 people were arrested<\/a> in connection with three scam centers in Tirana, Albania.<\/p>\n

Magazine: <\/strong><\/em>Big Questions: Do we really only need 2\u20135 cryptocurrencies?<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph\u2019s Editorial Policy<\/a> and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently. <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Cointelegraph by Stephen Katte<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coinbase freezes $3M tied to Southeast Asia crypto fraud networks Latest News Published Jun 4, 2026 Authorities around the world have been heavily targeting scam infrastructure this year, with joint actions involving the US, UAE, China, Austria and Albania. Crypto exchange Coinbase said it froze more than $3 million in cryptocurrency tied to a global<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":910281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22217,302],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-910280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-coinbase","category-freezes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}