FinCEN Links $12.7 Billion in Suspicious Activity to Southeast Asian Crypto Scams

Huo Xing Finance reports that on Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released an analysis and alert linking approximately $12.7 billion in suspicious financial activity to cryptocurrency investment scams operated by Southeast Asian-based园区. Around 1,300 institutions submitted 33,904 Suspicious Activity Reports covering the period from September 2023 to December 2025. Money service businesses, primarily cryptocurrency companies, filed 55% of the reports, involving $5.5 billion; banks filed 41%, involving $6.4 billion; and securities firms accounted for the remaining $784.5 million. The number of reports grew at an average monthly rate of 10.9%, while the associated dollar amount increased by 18%. Scammers utilized at least 22 digital assets, with Ethereum, USDT, and USDC being the most common. On-chain analysis revealed that regardless of the initial asset purchased by victims, funds were almost always converted into stablecoins—nearly all into USDT—and then transferred via DeFi protocols or exchanges outside the United States. Scammers also reused收款addresses across multiple victims, a pattern that enabled some institutions to identify the scheme. The report indicated that approximately 25% of victims were elderly, consistent with the proportion of the U.S. population aged 60 and above (24.4%), leading FinCEN to conclude that the elderly are not being disproportionately targeted. The FBI estimates that in 2024, Americans aged 60 and older lost $4.8 billion to fraud. These operations are primarily based in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, and U.S. authorities have seized over $25 million in funds linked to these scams this year.