The FBI and Dubai police have dismantled nine crypto scam centers and arrested 276 people in a coordinated international operation targeting sophisticated "pig butchering" schemes that have defrauded victims of millions.
The FBI, the Dubai Police Department, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, with the assistance of Thailand's institutions, and tech giant Meta dismantled at least 9 crypto scam centers and arrested at least 276 individuals last week, the US Department of Justice said.
Almost all were arrested by Dubai authorities, while one person was caught by Thai police. Several Indonesian and Burmese nationals, aged 23-29, have already been charged with federal fraud and money laundering charges in the US.
The FBI opened the investigation in 2025 after a number of companies and individuals running crypto scam operations were identified. The court documents allege that the defendants managed, worked for, and recruited others to work at "Ko Thet Company," "Sanduo Group," and "Giant Company," which operated scam centers focused on the so-called pig-butchering crime schemes.
As reported by Cybernews, this type of crime has been rising in popularity, also helped by AI-enabled tools.
In "pig butchering," criminals build trust with victims through fake relationships before convincing them to invest in phony crypto platforms and tricking people into increasing their investments over time, until all the funds are stolen.
In the US only, numerous victims of the above-mentioned three companies have been identified and "millions of dollars" in losses found, though this only includes complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Meanwhile, the Dubai Police Department disrupted scammers by conducting its own investigation, while Meta provided "critical information" to the FBI.
"These scammers thought they were safe half a world away. But their world has changed. Global crime now faces global justice," US Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California was quoted as saying in the announcement.
The FBI said it has been investigating multiple sophisticated crypto scam schemes and, as of April 2026, has notified almost 9,000 victims and saved them an estimated $562 million. Currently, the bureau is investigating the Tai Chang Scam Enterprise, a series of scam compounds located in Burma’s Karen State.
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