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Kash Patel says FBI seized $15B in scam crackdown
FBI director said operation dismantled major scam compound and freed thousands of trafficked workers
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Malvika Choudhary - Mon, 10, Aug 2026
- 15:51 EDT
- 27
Kash Patel / X/ Kash Patel
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau seized roughly $15 billion in cryptocurrency from one of the world’s largest scam compounds as part of an international crackdown on online fraud operations.
Speaking to Jan Jekielek in an Aug. 9 interview for American Thought Leaders, Patel said, “Through Operation Blackout, we worked with international law enforcement and military partners to dismantle scam compounds across Southeast Asia and Dubai – freeing THOUSANDS of trafficked workers forced to operate these schemes.”
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When this leadership team arrived, it could take up to THREE HOURS for critical information from the field to reach FBI leadership, the White House, and our partners.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) August 9, 2026
Today, this FBI has cut that to UNDER 60 SECONDS.
That real-time intelligence means Hostage Rescue Teams,… pic.twitter.com/voe7zq718J
“In Operation Zephyr Exodus alone, we seized roughly $15 BILLION in crypto from one of the largest scam compounds – and we’re working with DOJ to get that stolen money back to the victims,” he added.
Patel said the FBI’s Operation Blackout is an umbrella investigation focused on large-scale scam compounds in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
“These are actually villages stood up with forced labor and trafficked workers who are not allowed to leave and live there 24-7,” Patel said, describing compounds in cross-border areas of Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.
He said the FBI recently worked with law enforcement and military partners in Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia, conducting four operations — three in Southeast Asia and one in the Middle East.
“We freed thousands of trafficked workers,” Patel said.
During the interview, Jekielek described the cryptocurrency seizure as involving approximately 127,000 Bitcoin. Patel said the FBI was working with the Justice Department to recover the cryptocurrency and return it to victims.
According to Patel, one operation in Dubai involved FBI personnel, Dubai police and officers from China’s Ministry of Public Security because the scam compound was affecting citizens of all three countries.
The FBI has increasingly focused on scam centers operating overseas and targeting victims in the United States through online investment fraud, cryptocurrency schemes and other forms of cyber-enabled crime. The bureau has also warned that people working inside some of these compounds can themselves be victims of human trafficking.
Patel said the scale of the scam industry runs into hundreds of billions of dollars when the impact on victims worldwide is taken into account.
He also urged Americans who encounter suspicious texts, emails or phone calls to report them to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3.
For Patel, the recent operations represent a shift toward disrupting criminal networks where they operate.
“It's a win for the world,” Patel said of the international campaign against scam compounds. “When a country gets to receive thousands of people back that were in forced labor, that's a win.”
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