The Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency tied to an alleged Chinese-run scam marketplace while assisting authorities in dismantling 13 scam compounds in Madagascar.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that federal authorities restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency linked to an international scam network while expanding operations against Chinese-run fraud compounds overseas.
The coordinated action targeted Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language marketplace operating through Telegram that authorities say provided services to criminal organizations running online scam centers around the world, according to the Justice Department.
At the same time, members of DOJ’s Scam Center Strike Force deployed to Madagascar, where they assisted local authorities with the takedown of 13 scam compounds operated by Chinese organized crime groups.
“If Chinese organized crime can buy a custom website and a money laundering service the way you order takeout, then every American with a retirement account is in the blast radius,” D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said. “My Strike Force will continue to dismantle Chinese organized crime, those who facilitate it, and protect Main Street America.”
Federal authorities allege Xinbi functioned as a marketplace where vendors advertised services used by scam operations, including building fraudulent investment websites, laundering money obtained from victims and recruiting people to work in scam compounds.
The Justice Department said investigators seized two cryptocurrency wallets used by Xinbi containing approximately $12 million and sought to restrain 47 additional wallets tied to the marketplace and its vendors. Combined, more than $52 million in cryptocurrency associated with the network was restrained in Wednesday’s operation.
The Treasury Department also designated Xinbi as a significant transnational criminal organization and imposed sanctions on entities accused of supporting its operations.
In Madagascar, the Strike Force spent two weeks assisting local law enforcement with the 13 scam-center investigations and processing more than 3,200 electronic devices seized during the operation. Nearly 400 people were arrested by local authorities, including approximately 30 suspected Chinese leaders of the compounds who were later repatriated to China, according to DOJ.
The operation is part of a broader Justice Department campaign targeting overseas scam centers that use cryptocurrency investment schemes, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking and money laundering to victimize Americans.
The Scam Center Strike Force was launched in 2025 and combines resources from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Justice Department Criminal Division, FBI, Secret Service and other federal agencies. The task force says it has now restrained approximately $938 million associated with international scam operations.
DOJ said the latest action demonstrates an expanding effort to pursue not only the scam centers themselves but also the digital marketplaces, financial infrastructure and service providers that allow those operations to function across international borders.
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