Washington: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized more than $17 billion linked to overseas scam centres under Operation Blackout, FBI Director Kash Patel said, as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to dismantle international fraud networks targeting Americans.
Speaking at a White House roundtable on cybercrime chaired by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Patel said the operation, conducted with the Department of Justice and US attorneys’ offices, had also led to the destruction of more than 20 scam compounds operated by criminal syndicates.
According to an IANS report, Patel said the networks operate across Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East, using large-scale facilities to defraud victims worldwide.
He cited recent operations in Ghana and Nigeria, where authorities arrested around 300 individuals and seized $15 million allegedly obtained through scams targeting elderly Americans. Patel urged victims to report suspicious activity to the FBI, stressing that even small pieces of information could assist investigations.
Trump said federal agencies had warned more than 10,000 Americans about potential fraud and prevented at least $1.6 billion in losses this year. He added that authorities had frozen nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to foreign scammers, shut down more than 500 fraudulent websites and worked with technology companies to disrupt millions of online accounts.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche highlighted international cooperation, including an operation with Dubai Police in April that resulted in at least 276 arrests and the dismantling of nine scam centres targeting Americans.
Blanche said the Justice Department had established a dedicated scam centre unit alongside the Homeland Security Task Force to pursue entire criminal networks. The initiative involves prosecutors across all 94 US attorneys’ offices.
He added that the State Department was denying visas to suspected scam operators, while prosecutors pursued charges against alleged organisers and recruiters.
