FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital that the bureau’s global crackdown, known as Operation Blackout, has seized about $17 billion tied to sprawling fraud compounds that target American seniors. The operation combines overseas raids, asset seizures and communications shutdowns with efforts to rescue trafficked workers and return stolen money to victims.
Senior citizens are the primary victims
Patel emphasized that “the majority of the targets are senior citizens in America,” noting that scammers exploit unfamiliarity with new technologies. One 71‑year‑old victim said, “I’m old enough to know that people my age are certainly often targeted because of our unfamiliarity with certain new technologies.” Another victim added, “I watched my grandmother lose her life savings to scammers and I would love to see them all be put away.”
How the scams operate
Criminal syndicates in Southeast Asia and the Middle East run massive “scam compounds” that function like towns or villages. Workers are forced into labor, using social media, phone calls, text messages and Telegram to lure victims into fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms. Victims are led to believe they are earning high returns, only to discover they cannot withdraw their funds.
Key overseas actions
In August, agents raided the O’Smach Resort compound in Cambodia – a roughly 200‑acre site – searching 28 buildings over three days. The raid produced 113 hard drives, 15 computers and 35 boxes of evidence. Earlier in September, a DOJ Scam Center Strike Force team that included FBI Honolulu personnel helped Madagascar authorities shut down 13 scam centers run by Chinese organized‑crime groups, seizing more than 3,200 electronic devices.
Domestic prevention – Operation Level Up
The FBI’s domestic component, Operation Level Up, proactively contacts potential victims before money reaches scammers. To date, the bureau has notified 10,406 individuals and prevented an estimated $660 million in losses. It has also seized or frozen another $122 million in cryptocurrency, referred 99 victims for suicide‑intervention services, seized 584 scam websites and forwarded 7,670 scam accounts to private‑sector partners for action.
Future focus
Patel warned that criminal networks are shifting toward central and sub‑Saharan Africa, and the FBI is already positioning resources to dismantle those operations. “That’s why you’re seeing the migration of these scam compounds to central and sub‑Saharan Africa, which is where we are already pre‑positioned to take them off,” he said.
Overall, Operation Blackout demonstrates a coordinated federal effort to protect American seniors from predatory fraud, recover stolen assets and disrupt the international criminal infrastructure that fuels these schemes.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
