I Was Trapped in Chinese Mafia Crypto Slavery
WIRED | It began with a message journalist Andy Greenberg’s inbox. A computer engineer from India was trapped far from home and forced to work 15-hour shifts running romance scams.
Paid by Seniors: Stopping the Surge of International Scams
US Senate Special Committee on Aging | The hearing highlights large-scale online fraud operations that steal billions from Americans and discusses solutions to address them.
Why Financial Crime Persists in an AI-enabled World
Finextra | Crime organizations take full advantage of generative AI tools to run their operations at massive scale.
Scammers Use Fraud Alert Text to Steal Woman’s Life Savings
KHOU-11 | It looked like a typical text alert from her bank warning her of suspicious charges on her account. She replied “no,” and the scammers got to work.
34 Arrests in Action against ‘Black Axe’ Criminal Network
Europol | The Spanish National Police, working with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, disrupted operations of the “Black Axe” international criminal organization.
Bitcoin ATM fraud hits record $333 million: FBI
Business Insider | The FBI reports that scammers stole more than $333 million from victims using Bitcoin ATM fraud in 2025.
The World Is Failing Cambodia – and Everyone Is Suffering
The Diplomat | Jacob Sims writes that Western strategic missteps, absent U.N. accountability, a gutted civil society, and Thai aggression are providing cover for a Hun Sen’s weakened leadership.
Inside Palau’s Hotel Scam Centers
OCCRP | When police raided hotel sites in Palau, they encountered scenes that looked much like those inside the scam compounds in Myanmar and Southeast Asia.
Meta Tolerates Rampant Ad Fraud to Safeguard Billions in Revenue
Reuters | Meta accepted high levels of fraudulent ads from China in order to minimize the “revenue impact” of preventing scam ads.
Trafficking victims scam under threat of violence
CTV News | An investigation looks into why the people making scam calls targeting Canadians seem to be so willing to scam people out of their life savings.
‘I was heartbroken’: Two Canadians lose $2.3 million to crypto scams
W5 | Canadians are being aggressively targeted by scammers using AI-generated videos and images to get them to invest in cryptocurrency scams.
New California Innovation Council and AI Initiatives
CA.gov | Governor Gavin Newsom has named Erin West, founder of Operation Shamrock, to the California Innovation Council’s Countering Tech Fraud working group.
Scams, billions lost, and how Meta is turning a blind eye
Hard Reset | Tech both enables and profits from the scam industry. Billionaire leaders have some of the world’s most advanced tech, yet do little to stop scams or support victims.
Policymakers Should Protect Consumers from Scammers
ITIF | The United States can close the gaps in public-private coordination through bipartisan legislation, including the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act and the SCAM Act.
The Coin Laundry: A Global Cryptocurrency Investigation
ICIJ | Crypto businesses have empowered a shadow economy that profits from crime. Meanwhile, scam victims have little hope of justice or recovering stolen money.
The Crypto Industry’s $28 Billion in ‘Dirty Money’
The New York Times | Crypto is gaining mainstream acceptance. But at least $28 billion tied to illicit activity has moved into crypto exchanges over the last two years alone.
How Scammers Use Crypto ATMs to Steal from Victims
The New York Times | Fraud losses involving crypto ATMs totaled $246.7 million in 2024. By the end of July 2025, losses had already reached $240 million according to FBI estimates.
Scam Targeting Shifts to Younger Consumers
PYMNTS | Dispelling the misconception that scammers typically target older adults, research shows that younger, affluent, college-educated consumers face the highest scam exposure.