The FBI's Operation Blackout has shut down over 500 fake investment websites and freed thousands of trafficked workers forced to operate fraud schemes from fortified compounds in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Most of the $15 billion seizure came from Operation Zephyr Exodus, the investigation into Cambodia-based Prince Holding Group, which in October 2025 resulted in the civil forfeiture of approximately 127,271 Bitcoin then valued at about $15 billion.
Senior citizens bore the brunt of these schemes, which operated through social media, phone calls, text messages and Telegram. Victims were cultivated into online relationships before being steered toward fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms, where they believed their money was generating returns but could not withdraw it. FBI Director Kash Patel described the criminal operations as "towns, these are cities" and "actual villages with structures where they force people into forced labor."
The operation involved coordinated international action, with authorities arresting hundreds of suspects and warning more than 10,000 Americans before they could fall victim to the scams. The FBI prevented estimated losses of more than $500 million through these warnings. An August operation at Cambodia's roughly 200-acre O'Smach Resort compound involved searches of 28 buildings and seized 113 hard drives, 15 computers and 35 boxes of evidence.
The investigation has strengthened international cooperation, with more than 20 countries now coordinating efforts against these criminal networks. The FBI said the investigation would continue until those responsible face justice and measures are strengthened to protect Americans from fraud.