DOJ 'Disruption Week' Freezes $3.8M in Stolen Crypto

More than $3.8 million in crypto stolen from Americans was frozen this week, the result of a joint operation involving Coinbase, SpaceX, Meta, and Apple, along with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The Department of Justice's initiative, dubbed "Disruption Week," brought private sector firms and government agencies together to take action against organized crime entities in Southeast Asia.

"Cyber-enabled and crypto investment fraud is devastating Main Street Americans, wiping out life savings and preying on some of our most vulnerable citizens," said U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro in a statement. "We will not allow transnational scammers or the Chinese organized crime groups behind them to use America's internet infrastructure against us or let U.S. companies stand idly by," she added.

The collaboration also included Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Private sector firms "took voluntary action to interrupt millions of social media, email, and internet access accounts" used by criminal actors. Using information from the government, the firms were then able to freeze the funds.

"Disruption Week shows what is possible when governments and private industry focus their efforts in tandem: millions of scam accounts interrupted, and criminal networks pushed [off] the U.S. internet platforms on which they rely," Pirro said.

The "Scam Center Strike Force" met in person in Washington, D.C. from May 18-21, where they shared information that led to the more than $3.8 million in frozen funds, the disruption of more than 1.4 million social media and email accounts, and the identification of scammers—including the arrest of seven individuals in Thailand. Separately, a Michigan couple helped make history when they recently closed on the first government-guaranteed mortgage secured by Bitcoin, Coinbase announced on Thursday. Working with mortgage lender Better, the exchange said it had enabled Joe and Amy to secure a Fannie Mae-backed home loan by pledging Bitcoin as collateral for their down payment, allowing them to benefit from the government-sponsored enterprise's safety net. Coinbase said the product, first announced in March, is expected to roll out to...

"One of the best tools we have in combatting these illicit actors is our partnerships and they are only getting stronger," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. "We're preventing further victimization by working with other agencies, our foreign law enforcement counterparts, and the private sector who have all taken part in this Disruption Week," he added.

Last year, the FBI's internet crime report indicated that Americans lost nearly $11.4 billion to crypto fraud in 2025—a 22% jump from the previous year.

Earlier this year, crypto firms like Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance teamed with authorities in the U.S. and U.K. to help flag around $45 million in funds related to crypto fraud, freezing $12 million in the process.

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Soccer fans should think twice before sending cryptocurrency to anyone offering World Cup tickets online, law enforcement agencies warn. In a post on X on Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department warned that scammers are using fake World Cup ticket sales, hospitality packages, merchandise offers, streaming services, and betting promotions to steal money and personal information, with cryptocurrency payments among the clearest signs of fraud. "Be cautious of sellers requesting paym...

Saikat Chakrabarti, a founding enginee