OFAC sanctions Cambodian politician linked to pig butchering scam centers
The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Thursday that it has placed sanctions on Cambodian Senator Kok An and 28 others for operating scam centers across the Southeast Asian country.
The centers were carrying out pig butchering scams, which have drained “billions” of dollars from American citizens, according to the Treasury’s announcement.
Pig butchering is a type of scam where the attacker builds rapport with a victim over months or years, through promises of friendship, business opportunities, or romantic relationships, and uses the relationship to extract funds from the target victim.
Average daily inflows from pig butchering scams between 2020 and 2025. Source: Chainalysis
The US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Scam Center Strike Force also announced the seizure of a social media platform connected to human trafficking and 503 “fraudulent web domains” connected to crypto scams. Treasury said in its announcement:
“The Scam Center Strike Force has directed agents and attorneys from US law enforcement agencies to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute the most egregious scam centers and their leaders, with a focus on Burma, Cambodia and Laos.”
The US Treasury estimates that Americans lost at least $10 billion in a single year to scam operations based in the Southeast Asia region — a reminder for crypto users to practice online safety measures to protect funds and sensitive data, as total losses from scams and hacks reached $482 million in Q1 2026.
US DOJ prosecutes scam butchering mastermind, gets 20 years in prison
In February 2026, a California Federal Court sentenced Daren Li to 20 years in prison, plus three years of supervised release, for his role in carrying out pig butchering scams and other types of fraudulent activity.
Destination platforms for illicit outflows from pig butchering scams. Source: Chainalysis
Li and at least eight other co-conspirators created fraudulent domains presented as legitimate crypto trading platforms and exchanges, which were marketed to users via social media platforms and messaging applications.
Once the scammers had built enough trust with the victims, they would direct them to deposit funds on the fraudulent trading platforms.
The scams carried out by Li and his accomplices drained $73 million from victims depositing funds into the scam trading platforms, according to the DOJ.