FBI Dismantles World's Largest Scam Centers: $15.2 Billion Seized
Operation Blackout frees thousands of forced laborers, while in Idaho a heroic bystander prevents a greater tragedy during a fast-food restaurant shooting.
Operation Blackout frees thousands of forced laborers, while in Idaho a heroic bystander prevents a greater tragedy during a fast-food restaurant shooting.
The FBI announced on July 31, 2026, that it had dismantled four of the "world's largest scam centers" in a massive international operation codenamed "Operation Blackout." During the operation, assets worth $15.2 billion were seized, and thousands of workers held against their will were freed, according to ZeroHedge, citing an agency statement.
FBI Director Kash Patel revealed details of the operation in a post on X on July 21, stating that the seizure was carried out over 16 months. "Dozens of scam centers have been dismantled, hundreds of criminals arrested, and multiple human trafficking compounds eliminated," Patel wrote. It is estimated that approximately 10,000 Americans were saved from losing their life savings.
Patel highlighted four key operations within Blackout. Operation Zephyr Exodus dismantled the Cambodian transnational criminal organization Prince Group, leading to the record seizure of 127,000 Bitcoins, worth approximately $15 billion at the time of seizure.
Operation Sand Dollar, conducted in cooperation with China's Ministry of Public Security and Dubai police, resulted in the dismantling of nine scam centers in the United Arab Emirates. More than 300 individuals were arrested, approximately $300 million was seized, thousands of electronic devices were confiscated, and thousands of forced laborers were freed. Operations Compound Fracture and Shunda Compound Takedown further seized domains and malicious applications and disrupted online fraud networks.
Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 35 individuals and entities linked to Prince Group, including a Cambodian conglomerate allegedly providing money laundering services for fraud proceeds.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued a statement on July 28 warning about the fate of human trafficking victims forced to work in scam centers. "People trapped in scam compounds are victims of human trafficking, forced into crime through violence, threats, and coercion. They deserve protection, not punishment," said IOM Director General Amy Pope.
According to IOM data, from 2022 to 2025, assistance was provided to more than 3,500 victims of forced crime from 39 countries, mainly from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. "We must work together to support survivors, stop traffickers, and close the loopholes these criminal networks exploit. No country can solve this alone," Pope added.
The scale of the problem is enormous. U.S. authorities estimate that American citizens lost at least $10 billion in 2024 due to scam operations in Southeast Asia, a 66 percent increase from the previous year. According to the FBI's 2025 report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than one million complaints, with total losses exceeding $20.87 billion, a 26 percent increase.
In response to the growing threat, a group of U.S. lawmakers introduced the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization (SCAM) Act on September 30, 2025, aiming to curb overseas scam operations and hold transnational criminal organizations accountable. The bill, which passed the Senate in December and was sent to the House of Representatives, has not seen significant progress since.
In a separate incident, the U.S. was also marked by drama in the state of Idaho. On Saturday, 24-year-old Chad Williams opened fire at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Twin Falls, killing at least three people, including a restaurant employee, and wounding seven others. Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks confirmed on Sunday that the attacker was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Credit for preventing a greater tragedy goes to 35-year-old Jordan Salinas, a healthcare worker from Kimberly, Idaho. Although police did not officially name him, Salinas told the Idaho Statesman how he confronted the attacker. "He didn't like it when bullets started flying in both directions," said Salinas, who was a restaurant patron at the time with his girlfriend.
Salinas described his response as "automatic" and "mechanical." He had practiced firearms handling for years after the 2021 Boise Towne Square mall shooting that killed two people. He applied the approach he had trained for: "Observe, orient, decide, act." He added that he "felt no fear before, during, or after the shooting" and that "there's a job to be done, and we're the ones to do it."
Witness Lane Koehn told NBC News that the attacker was armed with an AR-type rifle and was focused on Salinas, allowing others to escape. In-N-Out Burger owner Lynsi Snyder emotionally bid farewell to the deceased employee: "My heart is broken, my chest is heavy, my eyes burn from the tears I've shed. We lost one of our beautiful associates tonight."
