Multiple people arrested, crime ring busted … but crime will go unabated

A joint international operation involving U.S. and Chinese authorities arrested at least 276 suspects and shut down nine cryptocurrency investment fraud centers.

The crackdown was led by Dubai Police under the UAE Ministry of Interior and targeted crime networks running so-called pig-butchering schemes (also known as romance baiting), a form of fraud in which scammers build trust with their targets through fabricated friendships or romances before luring them to fake cryptocurrency investment platforms that drain their funds.

According to court documents, the victims immediately lost control of the transferred funds, which were laundered through additional cryptocurrency accounts, while the scammers also encouraged them to borrow from family and take out loans to invest more.

This is all good, but why didn’t the people end up questioning some of the potential questions? It is possible that they did, and of course, as scammers, they come up with plausible answers to any type of question, so it is a little sad that this is still going on today.

The fact that Pig Butchering is still going on, even under different names, doesn’t surprise me. I expect that other rings will pick up where these 9 left off.

The article continues:

Among the 275 defendants arrested in Dubai, Burmese national Thet Min Nyi faces wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges as an alleged manager and recruiter for one of the scam operations known as Ko Thet Company.

Indonesian nationals Wiliang Awang, Andreas Chandra, and Lisa Mariam also face wire fraud conspiracy charges tied to two other alleged scam rings, Sanduo Group and Giant Company.

While Dubai Police arrested Thet Min Nyi, Chandra, and Mariam, and Thailand’s Royal Thai Police apprehended Awang, two additional co-conspirators remain fugitives.

“These scammers thought they were safe half a world away. But their world has changed. Global crime now faces global justice,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.

What will interest me is what will happen with these wire fraud charges. Those usually get a hefty sentence, but as cybercrime goes, and the fact they’re all using some form of crypto, it’ll be much less. The fact we have a woman captured peaks my interest too. Usually, from my experience reading these types of stories, the majority of suspects are male.

Skipping some, one stat just jumps out at you, even if you never read the full article. That paragraph states:

According to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, investment fraud accounted for 49% of all scam-related incidents recorded last year, leading to reported losses of $8.6 billion, up from $6.5 billion in 2024.

The fact that people believe whatever is said without questioning it makes me a bit concerned. That’s why so much money is taken.

Here’s something else we’re learning.

In November, U.S. federal authorities established the Scam Center Strike Force (a new task force to disrupt cryptocurrency scam networks), following the U.S. Department of Justice’s seizure of $15 billion from the leader of Prince Group (a criminal organization that stole billions from Americans through cryptocurrency investment scams).

And … we’ve not learned anything since, since millions and billions continue to be disappearing instead of helping our infrastructure. This, is interesting.

Finally, the final paragraph says:

This week, European authorities dismantled another crypto investment fraud ring that caused estimated losses of more than €50 million ($58.5 million) to victims worldwide.

Let’s keep this momentum up. I love these stories, and I want to see more.

If you want to read the entire article, please read: Police dismantles 9 crypto scam centers, arrests 276 suspects as it has the whole story.

We only took snippits out, not taking the entire article apart. Have fun with some good news!