United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia
09/03/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/03/2026 17:18
U.S. and UK Launch First-of-Its-Kind Joint Alliance to Dismantle Global Scam Centers
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, together with the Crown Prosecution Service of England & Wales and the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Scam Center Strike Force and its United Kingdom counterparts. The MOU is the first-of-its kind related to international cooperation on disabling scam centers committing cryptocurrency and cyber-enabled investment fraud (CIF) and other schemes, which are ravaging the American people of approximately $10 billion in losses per year.
"The United Kingdom is one of our oldest allies and partners. We've stood side by side to bring down global threats in multiple wars, and today we commit to stand together in the war on transnational organized crime, " said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. "Together we will disable the Chinese TOC networks that are operating these scam compounds and depriving our citizens of their hard earned funds, all while using human-trafficked labor to increase their profit. Standing together, we are invincible."
At an event earlier today, hosted at the residence of Sir Christian Turner KCMG, His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States, U.S. Attorney Pirro was joined by Crown Prosecutor for England and Wales Stephen Parkinson and National Crime Agency Director General Graeme Biggar, who signed the MOU along with Pirro on behalf of their respective agencies. Under the terms of the MOU, each will conduct parallel investigation into common targets, share information targeting of organized crime syndicates, discuss which jurisdictions to bring specific cases of common interest, and generally prioritize cases on this threat to achieve mutual results.
Both the UK and US counterparts had already identified significant cases of overlap, and committed to joining forces for an in-person disruption event with private industry partners, hosted by the National Crime Agency in London in early October. The MOU and joint efforts mark a new phase of international partnerships for the Scam Center Strike Force, which seeks to maximize impact by building a coalition of like-minded prosecution and investigative teams.
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About the Scam Center Strike Force
The Scam Center Strike Force was officially launched by U.S. Attorney Pirro in November 2025 to address the growing threat posed by Chinese organized crime syndicates operating scam centers primarily in Southeast Asia. The Strike Force targets cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking, and money laundering operations that have cost American victims billions of dollars.
According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), cyber-enabled fraud schemes were responsible for almost 85% of all losses reported to IC3 in 2025. Within that category, CIF schemes have continued to grow, and the IC3 calculated the reported losses from CIF scams rose, from $4.57 billion in 2023, to $8.65 billion in 2025, an increase of 89%.[1]Links to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. These figures, largely based on losses reported by victims, likely significantly under-represent the true loss amounts incurred by Americans, since most fraud victims do not report to IC3, if at all.
On March 6, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Administration to prioritize cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes draining American families of their life savings. Through the Executive Order, President Trump is unleashing every available tool to stop foreign-backed criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans through cyber-enabled fraud. The Scam Center Strike Force is a critical node in executing the mission outlined in the President's Order.
Founded by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, the Strike Force has been joined it its work by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, Justice Department's Criminal Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations-DC, as well as the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Districts of Alaska, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Western Washington. The Strike Force works in collaboration with other agencies, including the Treasury and State Departments. The Strike Force works in strategic partnership with private industry and calls on all U.S. businesses to take more proactive steps to protect users from scam operations.
The Scam Center Strike Force will use every tool available to help secure Main Street Americans from these scams. With its interagency and public partners, it will educate Americans on how to identify these scams, prevent generational wealth from flowing from America into the pockets of Chinese organized crime, and work with unwavering focus to return stolen funds to victims.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen P. Seifert for the District of Columbia directs the Strike Force.
United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia published this content on September 03, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 03, 2026 at 23:18 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]