While criminals are leveraging cryptocurrency and digital means to advance their illicit activities, international cooperation is also advancing to tackle these new challenges.

Xinhua, the official news agency of the Chinese state, confirmed that a coalition formed by the U.S., the UAE, and China conducted an international operation targeting online romance scams, commonly known as pig butchering schemes.

The operation, which took place in Dubai, dismantled nine centers dedicated to these activities en masse, targeting victims online by first gaining their trust, luring them into romantic relationships, and then asking them to invest in alleged high-return cryptocurrency schemes, stealing their funds in the process and disappearing shortly after.

An official of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security qualified China’s collaboration as “a major achievement in Chinese police efforts to advance international law enforcement cooperation,” hinting at upcoming collaborations to achieve the same end.

During the raids, 276 suspects who operated in these dens were arrested.

“Chinese police will continue to deepen pragmatic cooperation with more countries, carry out joint crackdowns, thoroughly dismantle telecom fraud dens, and make every effort to apprehend suspects involved in such crimes to effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of people in all countries,” an official from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security declared.

Pig-butchering scams have become a major pain point for global law enforcement agencies, with over $75 billion in losses registered since 2020. The networks around this crime also commit human trafficking crimes, luring future scammers to Asian countries like Cambodia and Myanmar, only to be forced to conduct these scams under threat of torture.

In America, pig butchering scams have netted nearly $6 billion in 2024 alone, highlighting the magnitude of the problem. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) calls these crimes cryptocurrency investment frauds and launched Operation Level Up in 2024 to “identify victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud and notify them of the scam,” contacting 8,103 victims and helping them avoid collective losses of over $500 million.

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