Interpol Flags Scam-Compound Ecosystems Driving $11B in Crypto Fraud

• Interpol has unveiled recommendations to tackle illicit activities perpetrated by scam compound centers. 
• One recommendation is to encourage a multinational joint operation to identify, locate, and repatriate victims.

Interpol has announced that its General Assembly has adopted a resolution to address the growing threats posed by transnational scam centers permanently. Reports show these centers are involved in illegal activities, including human trafficking, fraud, and abuse.

Interpol highlighted that perpetrators lure individuals with fake overseas job offers and force them into illicit schemes. According to the post, the most common among these activities include crypto scam, phishing scam, and investment fraud.

“While not everyone working in a scam centre is a victim of human trafficking, those who are held against their will frequently endure abuse, including physical violence, sexual exploitation, torture, and rape.”

The Details of the Interpol’s General Assembly Recommendations

According to the post, South Korea proposed a resolution that captured how these criminals use advanced technologies to conceal their operations and deceive victims. To effectively fight against these illicit activities, it was proposed that a global response should be coordinated. In all, five crucial recommendations were proposed for increased international law enforcement response, and the first is “real-time intelligence sharing.”

According to the report, this would significantly improve the efforts to identify and locate perpetrators while accessing full information on their ways of operation. Apart from this, a multinational joint operation supported by Interpol was proposed, coupled with a global awareness campaign that sensitizes the vulnerable groups, including job seekers. It was also recommended that standardized emergency protocols be installed to not only locate, but also rescue and repatriate victims.

The other recommendation is to target criminal financing and illicit assets associated with scam networks. Commenting on this, the Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza assured that they would fully support the implementation and collaborate with member countries to tackle these activities.

“To effectively counter these criminal networks, we must strengthen collaboration, improve information sharing, and move forward with coordinated, decisive action. Interpol is committed to supporting the resolution’s implementation and working with member countries to break these operations apart and protect the people who are most at risk.”

Interpol has, over the years, provided a timely update on this situation with its June report disclosing that victims from more than 60 countries have been trafficked into various scam centers. In 2024, it embarked on one of its largest crackdowns across 116 countries and territories. As part of the operation, more than 2,500 people were arrested.

The US Treasury has also taken a similar initiative, sanctioning 19 entities in Myanmar and Cambodia for scamming Americans.

In the report, about $10 billion was said to have been lost through such schemes. Also, a financial conglomerate based in Cambodia was reported to have processed more than $11 billion in crypto transactions linked to scam compound operators in July 2024. One of the entities sanctioned by the US Treasury is the Huione Group. Its entity processed over $4 billion in money laundering proceeds of scam centers.

As mentioned in our earlier publication, a MEXC report has disclosed that the rising global scam crackdowns have seen organized crime cases drop by 36%. Before that, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) had flagged crypto scams as a threat in 2025, as also noted in our previous post.