Wednesday, September 23. FBI Director Kash Patel posted the latest tally from Operation Blackout on Tuesday: more than $15 billion in assets and cryptocurrency seized from overseas scam compounds targeting Americans, more than 500 fake investment websites shut down, hundreds of arrests, thousands of trafficked workers freed, and more than 10,000 Americans warned before they wired money to a scammer.
Story Snapshot
- $15+ billion seized and 500+ fake investment sites shut down across more than 20 countries.
- Patel says 10,000 Americans were warned in time, preventing about $500 million in losses.
- Raids targeted fortified scam compounds run on trafficked labor.
- The Prince Holding Group case, with about 127,271 bitcoin in forfeiture, is the largest in Justice Department history.
Where This Stands Right Now
The bureau says Operation Blackout took down a sweeping web of scam networks that preyed on Americans and victims worldwide. It seized more than $15 billion in assets and cryptocurrency, shut down over 500 fake investment sites, and helped free thousands forced to work in scam compounds. Patel added that agents warned more than ten thousand Americans and helped save over five hundred million dollars through disruption and outreach.
FBI posts described the targets as fortified compounds that used trafficked labor to run romance-investment hoaxes, crypto cons, and boiler-room plays that drained retirement accounts. Fox News coverage earlier detailed record-setting cryptocurrency seizures within this same campaign, noting coordinated actions across multiple countries and arrests tied to the compound model. These sites pushed “get rich quick” pitches, spoofed financial brands, and moved stolen funds through crypto wallets to hide the trail.
How The Crackdown Was Coordinated
Operation Blackout is an umbrella effort made of several linked actions across borders. That structure let agents and partners hit money mules, web infrastructure, complicit service providers, and on-the-ground bosses in the same window, producing seizures in the multi-billion-dollar range and arrests in several jurisdictions rather than one isolated raid.
Tactics included domain seizures, registrar takedowns, and crypto wallet actions against sites that pushed fake investments. The bureau paired arrests with victim warnings and public guidance to stop new losses, and Patel credits the outreach that alerted Americans before they wired funds with saving more than five hundred million dollars during the operation’s run.
Why It Matters For Families And Savers
Scam networks have targeted older Americans, church groups, small business owners, and retirees with engineered scripts and high-pressure chats. By choking off the money flow and the web front doors, Operation Blackout hit the crooks where it hurts: cash and reach. Shutting hundreds of fake investment portals denies them the tools they used to bait people at scale, and large crypto seizures make it harder to recycle stolen funds into fresh lures.
The operation’s scale signals that the United States is not giving scammers a safe space online or overseas. The FBI credits coordination with partners and a focus on compound bosses who abused trafficked workers to drive profits. The model can be broken when agencies act together and move fast on wallets, domains, and command nodes at the same time, across many countries.
The FBI announced a major crackdown on international scam networks, described as fortified compounds that used human trafficking and forced labor to run a large-scale fraud industry targeting Americans. pic.twitter.com/SGBqQrZe0B
— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) September 22, 2026
