Overview
- U.S. authorities moved in on Xinbi on Sept. 9, with the Treasury’s OFAC naming it a “significant transnational criminal organization” and law enforcement seizing Telegram channels and related crypto wallets.
- The Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force restrained about $52 million in cryptocurrency in one day and says its broader cases have now frozen roughly $938 million tied to scam networks.
- OFAC also sanctioned two tech firms, Singapore‑based SafeW Technology and Cambodia‑based Anwen Technology, for running an encrypted messaging app and a wallet service that Xinbi used to hold and move funds.
- U.S. teams worked with foreign partners in Madagascar to dismantle 13 scam compounds, process thousands of devices and interview hundreds of detainees, highlighting the human toll through forced labor and victim recruitment.
- Blockchain firms and Tether helped identify and freeze Xinbi‑linked USDT wallets but Xinbi is trying workarounds by shifting to other messaging apps, launching its own wallet and converting funds into alternatives like USDD, underlining enforcement gains and limits.