DOJ Task Force Freezes $3.8M in Illicit Crypto—With Help From Coinbase, SpaceX and Meta

Some of America's biggest companies helped squash crypto fraud stemming from organized crime in Southeast Asia.

In brief

• Private sector firms like Coinbase, Apple, and SpaceX collaborated with government agencies to help curb crypto fraud.
• The collaboration led to more than $3.8 million in frozen crypto and 1.4 million disrupted social media and email accounts used to facilitate fraudulent activity.
• Last year, Americans lost nearly $11.4 billion to crypto fraud schemes according to the FBI's Internet Crime report.

More than $3.8 million in crypto stolen from Americans was frozen thanks to the joint efforts of major firms like Coinbase, SpaceX, Meta, and Apple alongside law enforcement agencies in America and abroad. 

The U.S. Department of Justice’s initiative, dubbed “Disruption Week,” put together private sector firms and government agencies in an effort to take action against organized crime entities in Southeast Asia. 

“Cyber-enabled and crypto investment fraud is devastating Main Street Americans, wiping out life savings and preying on some of our most vulnerable citizens,” said U.S. Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro, in a statement.

“We will not allow transnational scammers or the Chinese organized crime groups behind them to use America’s internet infrastructure against us or let U.S. companies stand idly by,” she added.

Amid the collaboration, which also included participation from Google, Meta, and Microsoft, private sector firms “took voluntary action to interrupt millions of social media, email, and internet access accounts” used by criminal actors. Thanks to information held by the government, the firms were then able to freeze the funds. 

“Disruption Week shows what is possible when governments and private industry focus their efforts in tandem: millions of scam accounts interrupted, and criminal networks pushed [off] the U.S. internet platforms on which they rely,” Pirro said. 

The “Scam Center Strike Force” met in person in Washington D.C. from May 18-21, where they shared information that led to the more than $3.8 million in frozen funds, disruption of more than 1.4 million social media and email accounts, and identification of scammers, including the arrest of seven individuals in Thailand.

“One of the best tools we have in combatting these illicit actors is our partnerships and they are only getting stronger,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.

“We’re preventing further victimization by working with other agencies, our foreign law enforcement counterparts, and the private sector who have all taken part in this Disruption Week,” he added. 

Last year, the FBI’s internet crime report indicated that Americans lost nearly $11.4 billion to crypto fraud in 2025—a 22% jump from the previous year.

Earlier this year, crypto firms like Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance teamed with authorities in the U.S. and U.K. to help flag around $45 million in funds related to crypto fraud, freezing $12 million in the process. 

Daily Debrief Newsletter