On September 3, 2026, FinCEN published an analysis and an alert to financial institutions to be vigilant about digital asset investment scams perpetrated by overseas scam centers. According to FinCEN, these digital asset scams are largely driven by Southeast Asian criminal networks, which operate industrial-scale scam compounds and leverage vast networks of criminal actors to facilitate and profit from scams.
FinCEN analyzed 33,904 BSA reports involving suspected digital asset investment scam–related activity filed between 8 September 2023 and 31 December 2025. These reports identified approximately $12.7 billion in financial activity tied to suspected digital asset investment scams. Based on these reports, FinCEN found that:
Money Services Businesses (MSBs), predominantly those related to the digital asset sector, and depository institutions reported 96 percent of all suspected digital asset investment scam-related BSA reports analyzed by FinCEN during the review period, and the reports are increasing at an accelerated rate.
Illicit actors used tactics such as fake identities, romance and business relationships, and fraudulent investment websites and apps to scam victims, often moving proceeds through multiple financial institutions.
BSA reports indicate that digital asset investment scams targeted people of all ages nationwide, with approximately 25% of related reports also involving elder financial exploitation, suggesting that older adults were not disproportionately targeted compared with other age groups.
Following this analysis, FinCEN issued an Alert to urge financial institutions to be vigilant in detecting, identifying, and reporting suspicious activity connected to the operation of digital asset investment scam centers and the laundering of associated illicit proceeds. The Alert notes that scam center operators may use guarantee marketplaces to obtain illicit services, including online account creation, phishing, and money laundering. They may also use professional money launderers to establish accounts and shell companies and move proceeds through money mule networks and stablecoin transfers to digital asset exchanges outside the United States.
The Alert provides the following red flags to help financial institutions in detecting and preventing suspicious activities connected to scam centers:
Red Flags Related to Victim Payments to Digital Asset Investment Scam Centers
A customer states that they were directed by a purported representative of law enforcement or a government agency to make a payment using digital assets, to conduct an international wire transfer, or to purchase precious metals or gift cards.
A customer states that a payment is intended to retain a law firm or other entity to recover funds lost to fraud but lacks documentation demonstrating that the service is legitimate.
A customer withdraws funds from an investment or retirement account to purchase gold from a precious metals dealer and indicates that they have been instructed to hand the gold to a courier.
Open-source information shows that an MSB receiving customer funds has claimed to be “approved by FinCEN.”
Open-source information shows that a digital asset exchange receiving customer funds is advertising services “with no KYC” or a lack of compliance measures.
Red Flags Related to Guarantee Marketplaces
A customer conducts transactions involving a digital asset token issued by or associated with a guarantee marketplace and fails to provide documentation regarding the source of funds.
Open-source information indicates that a payment service provider operating a guarantee marketplace changed its name, branding, website, or other features of its public presentation in an apparent attempt to mask its association with a guarantee marketplace that has been subject to law enforcement action, takedowns by service providers, or negative news.
A customer of a digital asset exchange transacts with an unattributed cluster of digital asset addresses, which blockchain analysis flags as sharing blockchain infrastructure with a known guarantee marketplace.
Blockchain analysis indicates that a customer has transacted directly or indirectly with a digital asset address attributed to a guarantee marketplace and the transactions have no apparent economic, business, or lawful purpose.
A payment service provider that offers digital asset exchange services appears to operate in Burma, Cambodia, or Laos, and appears to take measures to obfuscate its location or corporate structure.
Red Flags Related to Laundering Techniques Associated with Digital Asset Investment Scam Centers
A customer of a digital asset exchange receives stablecoin transactions that originate from centralized digital asset exchanges that operate in the United States and undergo transaction patterns associated with on-chain laundering techniques.
Open-source information indicates that a digital asset address used by a customer was posted on a messaging platform in proximity to Chinese-language terms related to money laundering.
A customer of a DeFi service receives deposits from a wallet that aggregates suspected scam proceeds and uses the DeFi service to move the proceeds into a different digital asset or blockchain.
A customer conducts substantial transactions using a stablecoin whose issuer advertises that it does not cooperate with law enforcement or that its stablecoin cannot be seized or frozen.
A customer of a digital asset exchange appears to be using liquidity provided by the digital asset exchange to execute large numbers of offsetting transactions consistent with operation as an OTC broker or P2P exchanger.
A customer receives stablecoin deposits from a DeFi service that lacks AML/CFT controls, converts the funds to fiat currency, and withdraws the proceeds.
Read FinCEN’s press release here.
The Analysis can be found here.
The Alert can be found here.