FBI beefs up fight vs China-led scam in SEA

THE Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday said that it is intensifying efforts against Chinese-led organized crime networks in Southeast Asia (SEA), which run industrial-scale scam operations that have bilked Americans out of billions of dollars.

Scott Schelble, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s International Operations Division, told journalists in a virtual briefing that the scale of these transnational fraud networks is “astounding,” citing data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, which recorded over 80,000 complaints in 2025 with total monetary losses exceeding $2.9 billion.

“What became clear is that Chinese organized crime syndicates running large-scale scam operations in the region are targeting Americans everyday,” he said.

“These are not small or isolated crimes; they are sophisticated, well-resourced criminal enterprises that exploit borders, technology, and vulnerable people to generate enormous profits,” he added.

Mr. Schelble, who recently returned from a mission to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, said he witnessed “entire facilities dedicated to fraud on an industrial scale” and added that these operations have evolved far beyond simple internet scams into a complex web of human trafficking and forced labor.

He said the FBI is embedding agents with the Royal Thai Police and working with Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities to expand regional task forces and make Southeast Asia “inhospitable” for these syndicates, as these allegedly shift locations across borders to evade detection.

“Criminals should not believe that borders will protect them if they target Americans,” he added.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking