The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a report on November 5, 2026, warning that virtual assets have become a core laundering channel for Southeast Asian scam compounds. The Paris-based standard-setter urged governments to disrupt criminal networks behind fraudulent operations rather than focusing only on individual scams.
The report describes how scam proceeds are moved with alarming speed. Stolen money can leave a victim’s account and reach an exit point in two to five minutes, while victims take an average of 20 hours to notice the theft. Fast payment systems facilitate these rapid transfers. The laundering process is split into seven stages, beginning with social media, where fraudsters use messaging apps and social accounts to recruit workers and identify victims before carrying out the scam during a “payment window.”
The FATF’s seventh update on virtual assets found that most illegal activity tracked on blockchains now flows through stablecoins. The update highlighted the Cambodia-based Huione Group, which allegedly laundered at least $4 billion between 2021 and 2025 for fraud schemes and North Korean cyber theft. Linked wallets received at least $24 billion, and the platform has been called the largest illegal online marketplace ever recorded. In 2025, the US Treasury’s FinCEN moved to cut Huione off from the American financial system, flagging its “unfreezable” USDH stablecoin, designed to avoid the freeze tools used by most issuers.
FATF President Giles Thomson said criminals are “weaponising AI and other technologies” to run scam operations, and governments must urgently modernise and accelerate their response. The task force recommends that banks, phone companies and tech firms share information, and that authorities act within 24 to 72 hours after a scam is detected, while funds can still be frozen. The report notes people from at least 80 jurisdictions have been traced to scam compounds in Southeast Asia, with an estimated 120,000 people forced to run online scams in Myanmar alone.
