Thailand hosted the FBI’s first Scam Center Summit last week, bringing together 18 countries and hundreds of law-enforcement agencies as the bureau widened its campaign against overseas fraud compounds.
More than 30 FBI cases have been opened in just over a year, with over $15 billion in assets pursued or restrained, 7,500 terminals suspended and hundreds of arrests tied to operations across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
April’s Operation Sand Dollar in the UAE hit nine scam centers, led to 311 arrests and prevented an estimated $54 million in victim losses; other operations targeted compounds in Cambodia, Burma and Thailand.
Operation Level Up has separately notified nearly 9,000 potential victims, prevented an estimated $562 million in losses and referred dozens for suicide intervention, underscoring the bureau’s shift from reacting after losses to intervening in real time.
The FBI said the compounds are run by transnational syndicates that steal and launder billions while using forced labor, and Patel said the next phase will target leadership and even bulldoze sites with partner governments.