In an unprecedented move underscoring the growing global alarm over cyber-enabled crime, the United States and United Kingdom on October 14 jointly announced their largest coordinated action to date against transnational cybercriminal organizations operating out of Southeast Asia. The sweeping operation targeted networks accused of orchestrating large-scale online scams that have defrauded victims around the world of billions of dollars.

The joint effort focused primarily on two Cambodia-based groups – the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization and the Huione Group – both of which allegedly serve as hubs for sprawling online investment and financial fraud schemes that have proliferated across the region in recent years.

According to a statement from the US Treasury Department, sanctions were imposed on 146 individuals and entities linked to the Prince Group, a vast conglomerate allegedly led by Chen Zhi, a Cambodian national who has built a web of companies accused of facilitating fraudulent online investment operations. The Treasury described the Prince Group as a “criminal enterprise masquerading as a legitimate business empire,” operating with impunity in Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia.

At the same time, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) took the extraordinary step of cutting off the Huione Group – another Cambodian financial conglomerate accused of laundering illicit proceeds – from the US financial system entirely. FinCEN said Huione had become a “central node” in a vast web of payment processors that allowed criminal groups to move and disguise their profits through cryptocurrency exchanges and online payment platforms.

“The rapid rise of transnational fraud has cost American citizens billions of dollars, with life savings wiped out in minutes,” Treasury Secretary Scott........

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