Coinbase announced it froze more than $3 million in cryptocurrency connected to scam networks operating in Southeast Asia, marking one of the largest coordinated actions by a U.S.-based exchange against organized digital fraud. The freeze was part of a multi-agency operation dubbed “Disruption Week,” led by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force, and involved cooperation from major technology companies and global law enforcement.
The joint effort, which included Meta, Microsoft, Starlink, the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and agencies from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Thailand, targeted criminal groups accused of romance scams, pig butchering investment fraud, and forced labor scam compounds. As part of the crackdown, Meta disabled over 1.4 million accounts, pages, and groups across Facebook and Instagram, while Microsoft suspended about 20,000 fraudulent accounts linked to the scam networks. Starlink terminated connectivity for thousands of internet kits used unlawfully. In Thailand, the Royal Thai Police arrested 63 individuals connected to the operations.
Coinbase emphasized that blockchain’s transparency provided a decisive advantage, stating: “Blockchain technology gives law enforcement something traditional financial systems often can’t: a transparent, immutable and permanent record of every transaction.” The exchange shared intelligence with all participating entities to trace stolen funds and block criminal wallets.
The “Disruption Week” action follows a broader fraud crackdown; in April, U.S. authorities had already frozen over $701 million in cryptocurrency tied to global scam networks and took down more than 500 fake investment websites. The latest freeze reinforces a shift toward rapid, public-private collaboration to combat crypto-linked fraud, with the DOJ describing these scams as among the most damaging types targeting Americans.
