An international law enforcement operation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Dubai police has resulted in the arrest of 276 individuals connected to sophisticated cryptocurrency scam networks. The coordinated effort also led to the shutdown of at least nine scam centers that were targeting victims worldwide.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the operation was a joint effort involving Dubai police, the FBI, and China’s Ministry of Public Security. Of those arrested, 275 were apprehended in Dubai, while one additional suspect was taken into custody by Thai authorities. Prosecutors have charged six people linked to the operation, including four defendants and two fugitive co-conspirators, with federal fraud and money laundering charges in a U.S. court in San Diego. If convicted, each charge could result in prison sentences of up to 20 years, alongside substantial financial penalties.
Investigators found that the network used fraudulent crypto investment platforms to deceive victims. These schemes often relied on convincing interfaces and coordinated social engineering tactics to build trust before extracting funds. The FBI linked the network to millions of dollars in losses. Earlier reports indicate that Americans alone lost more than $11 billion to crypto- and AI-related scams in 2025, with fake investment platforms representing the largest share of damages.
The operation targeted so-called “pig butchering” scams, where suspects built long-term relationships with victims before promoting fake crypto investment opportunities. Victims in the United States and other countries were persuaded to transfer funds into fraudulent trading platforms, after which the money was routed through accounts controlled by the perpetrators and laundered across multiple crypto wallets.
In a separate European action, law enforcement agencies in Austria and Albania, supported by Europol and Eurojust, arrested ten people tied to three scam centers operating out of Tirana. These operations were highly structured, employing up to 450 individuals across various roles including customer acquisition, fake brokerage services, IT support, and financial management. Authorities estimate that this network alone caused losses of more than €50 million.
This crackdown follows earlier coordinated action between the FBI and Thai authorities, which led to the freezing of about $580 million in cryptocurrency and the seizure of 8,000 mobile devices used in scam operations. The FBI’s data shows that crypto-related fraud losses reached a record $11.3 billion last year, accounting for more than half of the $20.9 billion in total internet crime losses tracked by the agency.
