๐บ๐ธ The FBI just busted a global network of scam compounds spanning Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, seizing 127,000 Bitcoin worth $8 billion, and arresting nearly 300 people across 3 continents in a single operation called Operation Blackout.
And what exactly were these compounds? Not call centers. Criminal factories staffed by trafficked workers forced at gunpoint to run pig butchering crypto scams, romance fraud, and extortion schemes on Americans.
One victim lost $3 million to a single romance scam. The FBI says the real losses are wildly higher than what gets reported.
The centerpiece was Chen Zhi, CEO of Cambodia's Prince Holding Group, a man who built a glossy legitimate conglomerate as a front for the whole operation.
Dubai. Thailand. Myanmar. Nine compounds in Dubai each pulling $6 million a year. Thousands of smartphones walked out of Thailand. An armed Myanmar militia with Chinese mob ties dismantled.
Starlink also played a role, sharing geolocation data with the FBI that led to 7,000 terminals being suspended in Myanmar.
Kash Patel said what it is, not call centers, criminal enterprises built to steal, launder, and exploit at scale.
Here's the creepy part though. The FBI contacted 8,935 people who were actively being scammed in real time. 77 percent of them had no idea it was even happening.
The FBI stopped $562 million from walking out the door before those people ever knew they were targets.
Record broken. But at $64 billion stolen every year, $8 billion seized is still just one bad month for the industry.
Source: FOX NEWS
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