FinCEN Links $12.7 Billion in Suspicious Activity to Southeast Asia Crypto Scams

The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Thursday that it issued an analysis and alert linking about $12.7 billion in suspicious financial activity to crypto investment scams run from compounds in Southeast Asia. According to ChainCatcher, about 1,300 institutions filed 33,904 suspicious activity reports covering September 2023 through December 2025. Money services businesses, largely crypto firms, filed 55% of the reports involving $5.5 billion, while banks filed 41% involving $6.4 billion and securities firms accounted for the remaining $784.5 million. The number of reports rose at an average monthly rate of 10.9%, while the amount involved increased 18%. The scams used at least 22 digital assets, with Ethereum, USDT, and USDC cited most often. Chain analysis showed that funds were almost always converted into stablecoins, nearly always USDT, before being moved through DeFi protocols or exchanges outside the U.S. Scammers also reused receiving addresses across multiple victims, which helped some institutions identify the pattern. About 25% of the reports involved older adults, roughly in line with their 24.4% share of the population, leading FinCEN to say seniors were not disproportionately targeted. The FBI said Americans aged 60 and older lost $4.8 billion to scams in 2024. The compounds are mainly located in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, and U.S. authorities have seized more than $25 million linked to the schemes this year.