Explore documented scam networks, the tactics they use, and the agencies working to stop them. Find practical ways to protect your money, accounts, and devices, with local technology assistance from CCS in Canandaigua and the Finger Lakes.
DOJ reported Olamide Shanu’s guilty plea to a money-laundering conspiracy connected with sextortion and romance fraud.
What to watch for: Threats or emotional pressure to send money deserve outside help, not another payment. Preserve the messages and report the demands.
DOJ · Sextortion and romance-fraud guilty plea
NCCIA reported 212 people detained at three locations in E-11 and G-10. Detention is not a conviction; the report describes an international fraud investigation.
What to watch for: Verify unexpected financial calls independently. A displayed local number does not establish where a caller operates.
Associated Press of Pakistan · NCCIA statement
DOJ announced action involving the Xinbi marketplace and about $52 million in cryptocurrency restrained that day.
What to watch for: Be skeptical of trading platforms introduced through private messages. Screenshots of profits are not proof you can withdraw funds.
DOJ · September 2026 Strike Force action
DOJ unsealed charges involving MediaLand and ML.Cloud, alleging infrastructure supported attacks and more than $62 million in victim losses.
What to watch for: Keep backups separate from your main computer and verify unusual business emails through a known contact.
DOJ · MediaLand indictment
The FTC reported $3.5 billion in 2025 imposter-scam losses. Fake security alerts can pressure people to move money.
What to watch for: A request to transfer savings into a supposed safe account is a reason to stop and call your bank directly.
FTC · 2025 fraud dataSelected reports available through October 1, 2026. These cards are curated by CCS and link directly to the original reports.
IC3 complaints received in 2025
Total reported IC3 losses in 2025
Cyber-enabled fraud complaints, a subset of the IC3 total
Losses in that fraud subset
Reported losses among people over 60
These complaint systems cannot tell us exactly how many Americans were scammed. Some crimes go unreported, and complaints can overlap. The FTC separately recorded about $16 billion in reported fraud losses for 2025. Do not add FBI and FTC figures together.
FTC · 2025 fraud dataCriminal investigations identify specific networks and locations. A caller’s accent, nationality, or displayed phone number is not reliable evidence of fraud. Evaluate the request and verify it independently.
Indian call-center cases have involved fake government demands and technical-support claims. Ahmedabad appears in a DOJ sentencing case involving an operator convicted of coordinating calls to U.S. victims. FBI and local partners also describe an India-linked investigation affecting about 660 U.S. victims, with nearly $48.8 million in losses. Reporting on the joint investigation identifies raids in Delhi, Noida, and Kolkata in December 2025. Cities named in investigations are not a ranking of scam prevalence.
Recognize the tactic: A demand to install remote-control software, buy gift cards, or hand cash to a courier should trigger independent verification.
FBI · Joint fraud investigationDOJ · India-based call-center sentencingWashington Post · India call-center investigationNCCIA reported three alleged centers in Islamabad’s E-11 and G-10 sectors on September 22, 2026. Separately, reporting from Lahore describes arrests involving alleged bank impersonation and an alleged center in Gulberg. These reports do not establish that operations relocated because of Indian enforcement.
Recognize the tactic: Never provide card details or verification codes to an incoming caller claiming to represent a bank.
Associated Press of Pakistan · NCCIA statementThe Express Tribune · NCCIA investigationDOJ’s Qakbot case names an alleged organizer from Moscow. A separate indictment identifies MediaLand and ML.Cloud in St. Petersburg and alleges they provided infrastructure for malware, ransomware, and phishing. These cases concern named defendants and organizations, not the Russian population.
Recognize the tactic: Unexpected attachments, login pages, and payment changes deserve a second check. Backups and updates reduce the damage a compromised device can cause.
DOJ · Qakbot indictmentDOJ · MediaLand indictmentDOJ has documented Chinese-linked criminal operations associated with scam centers in Myanmar and Cambodia. Citizenship, ownership, server location, and the physical scam-center location are different facts. Scam-compound investigations can also involve trafficking and forced criminality; some people inside are victims.
Recognize the tactic: Relationship-building followed by instructions to invest on an unfamiliar platform is a serious warning sign. A fee demanded to unlock withdrawals can extend the fraud.
DOJ · Southeast Asian scam centersDOJ · September 2026 Strike Force actionINTERPOL’s Red Card 2.0 operation documented Nigerian phishing and investment schemes, Kenyan fake-investment activity, and Côte d’Ivoire mobile-loan fraud. Africa is a continent with distinct jurisdictions, and one operation does not show which scam dominates every country. A separate joint Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana investigation identified trafficking victims in Abidjan forced into exploitative pyramid schemes. A DOJ sextortion and romance-fraud case identifies a defendant from Lagos, Nigeria.
Recognize the tactic: Verify investment operators independently. Do not pay to release a loan or trust a dashboard showing money you cannot withdraw.
INTERPOL · Operation Red Card 2.0INTERPOL · Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana operationDOJ · Sextortion and romance-fraud guilty pleaOverseas schemes can rely on people and infrastructure inside the U.S. A DOJ case involving $65 million in alleged fraud describes a multinational network targeting seniors. Domestic collection and money movement can make a foreign-directed scam feel local.
Recognize the tactic: Do not accept a job forwarding money or receiving unexplained transfers. A courier at your door does not make a caller legitimate.
DOJ · Scambaiters assisted fraud investigationA call, text, ad, social message, or fake alert creates an opening.
The sender impersonates a bank, employer, agency, friend, or technology company.
Urgency, secrecy, fear, or a promised opportunity limits time to think.
The scammer asks for account codes, personal information, remote access, or payment approval.
Funds go through transfers, cryptocurrency, gift cards, or couriers.
A new tax, release fee, or recovery promise keeps the demands going.
Common patterns overlap. The same network may impersonate several organizations or switch its story when you hesitate.
A pop-up or caller claims your device is infected or a refund went wrong. They want remote access or a payment.
Warning signs: A browser alert gives a phone number, or someone asks you to log into banking while they control your screen.
Verify: Close the alert and contact a support provider you chose independently.
What to do after a scam
The caller claims your money or identity is at risk and tells you to move funds.
Warning signs: A “safe account,” arrest threat, secret investigation, or courier pickup.
Verify: Call the number on your bank card or the agency’s official website.
What to do after a scam
A new contact offers trading advice and directs you to a platform they recommend.
Warning signs: Guaranteed returns, fake profits, blocked withdrawals, and new release fees.
Verify: Research the operator independently and avoid platforms introduced through unsolicited messages.
What to do after a scam
An online relationship becomes a request for financial help or investment.
Warning signs: Repeated emergencies, avoidance of real meetings, or coaching you to send cryptocurrency.
Verify: Talk to a trusted person and do not send money to someone you have not independently verified.
What to do after a scam
A message imitates a vendor, manager, or employee to change payment instructions.
Warning signs: New bank details, urgent confidential requests, or a subtly altered email address.
Verify: Confirm payment changes using an established phone number and a second approval.
What to do after a scam
A recruiter offers simple paid tasks, equipment checks, or a job moving money.
Warning signs: You must deposit funds to continue, repay an overpayment, or forward transfers.
Verify: Verify the employer through its official careers page. Do not pay to unlock wages.
What to do after a scam
A buyer or seller sends a payment link, fake receipt, or overpayment.
Warning signs: Pressure to leave the platform or refund money that has not actually cleared.
Verify: Check payments in your own account and use the platform’s protections.
What to do after a scam
Someone threatens to distribute intimate images, sometimes using stolen information or a fabricated claim.
Warning signs: Demands for payment, escalating deadlines, or threats to contact friends and family.
Verify: Stop paying or engaging, preserve evidence, and report threats. For immediate danger, call emergency services.
What to do after a scam
A stranger claims they can recover lost funds or accounts for an upfront fee.
Warning signs: Guaranteed results, claimed law-enforcement connections, or requests for wallet keys.
Verify: Contact your bank, account provider, and official reporting agencies directly.
What to do after a scamGovernment threats, support scams, and savings-related impersonation can be especially costly. A trusted second opinion can help before large transfers.
Fake recruiters can exploit financial pressure. Verify the employer and reject tasks that require your own deposits.
Relationship scams build trust gradually. Discuss money requests with someone outside the conversation.
Sextortion threats can create overwhelming pressure. A trusted adult and official reporting channels can help; the victim is not to blame.
Invoice changes and compromised email can target staff who handle payments. Verify changes through known contacts.
Recovery scammers may approach people already harmed. A new promise to retrieve funds can be another fraud.
Anyone can be targeted. Fraud succeeds by manipulating trust and circumstances, not because victims lack intelligence.
3 alleged centers; 212 people detained
Investigation; no conviction established by this report.
No recovered-dollar total stated.
Associated Press of Pakistan · NCCIA statement
About $52 million restrained that day; about $938 million cumulatively restrained
Asset restraint and infrastructure disruption.
The daily figure is part of the cumulative figure. Restrained funds are not necessarily returned.
DOJ · September 2026 Strike Force action
503 scam websites seized; about $700 million restrained
Charges, seizures, and restraints announced.
This earlier Strike Force milestone overlaps its later cumulative reporting.
DOJ · Southeast Asian scam centers
651 arrests across 16 African countries; over $4.3 million recovered
Operation ran December 8, 2025 to January 30, 2026.
Reported victims were predominantly in Africa. “Recovered” does not establish U.S. victim repayments.
INTERPOL · Operation Red Card 2.0
Over $24 million in cryptocurrency seized
Indictment and civil forfeiture complaint.
Seizure and a forfeiture request are different from completed victim restitution.
DOJ · Qakbot indictment
28 charged; $65 million alleged fraud
Charges announced; creator evidence assisted investigators.
Alleged losses are not recovered funds.
DOJ · Scambaiters assisted fraud investigationCases use different definitions and can overlap. Arrested, charged, and convicted mean different things. Money may be frozen, restrained, seized, forfeited, ordered as restitution, or actually returned. Adding these figures would create a misleading total.
Receive internet-crime complaints and investigate fraud and cybercrime. Reports can help connect related cases.
Visit the official websiteCoordinates investigations and prosecutions against transnational scam centers and their financial infrastructure.
Visit the official websiteInvestigates financial crimes and cyber-enabled fraud with domestic and international partners.
Visit the official websiteInvestigates transnational crime, including financial networks and trafficking associated with some scam operations.
Visit the official websiteInvestigates crimes involving the mail, including fraud and related money movement.
Visit the official websiteCollects consumer reports, issues warnings, and brings civil enforcement actions. It is not an emergency-response service.
Visit the official websiteUse financial sanctions to disrupt designated criminal networks. Sanctions do not themselves recover a victim’s payment.
Visit the official websiteSupport information sharing and coordinated cross-border operations among participating national authorities.
Visit the official websiteInvestigates major cases and cooperates with international partners on documented call-center fraud investigations.
Visit the official websiteInvestigates cybercrime, including the recent Islamabad call-center case cited above.
Visit the official websiteThe Attorney General accepts consumer complaints. Local police can receive reports of threats, theft, and other crimes.
Visit the official websiteEuropol: Official website. CCS is an independent local business and is not affiliated with these agencies.
Videos demonstrate scam calls and efforts to expose fraudulent operations. Use them to recognize patterns and support independent verification.
Visit the YouTube ChannelScambaiting videos show how scammers manipulate conversations and impersonate support organizations. Treat creator content as education, not official reporting.
Visit the YouTube ChannelPierogi’s channel documents scam disruption and victim-awareness work. DOJ has credited Pierogi and Trilogy Media with helping investigators in a specific fraud case.
Visit the YouTube ChannelCreators can bring attention and evidence to investigations; law enforcement carries out arrests and prosecutions. Beware of accounts impersonating creators or promising paid fund recovery. Do not confront suspected scammers yourself.
DOJ · Scambaiters assisted fraud investigationReport internet crime and financial cyber fraud.
Open the Official ResourceReport scams, impersonation, and unfair business practices.
Open the Official ResourceGet a recovery plan and report identity theft.
Open the Official ResourceRegister for free to reduce compliant sales calls. Registration does not block illegal scam callers.
Open the Official Resource
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Explore the Knowledge BaseCCS Scam Watch summarizes public reports for awareness and prevention. Source links accompany statistics, investigations, and case results. Charges and allegations are identified as such; defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted. Locations describe documented cases, not national character or a ranking of scam prevalence.
News dates identify the cited publication. Annual figures identify the reporting year. Updates are curated manually, and case outcomes may change. Financial figures retain their reported meaning rather than implying every seized dollar reached a victim.
For a correction or a broken source link, contact CCS. Share the page or source reference, without including sensitive personal information.
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