The United States is offering a reward of up to US$10 million (S$12.7 million) for information about the Tai Chang Scam Centres in Myanmar.

This was first announced on April 23, when the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs said that the reward would be offered under the country’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program for “information leading to the seizure or recovery of funds involved in money laundering related to scams” operated out of the s`cam centres.

The endeavour is being carried out in support of the Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force, which was formed in 2025 to target scam operations, recover stolen assets, and prevent further victimisation.

The announcement underlined that Southeast Asia’s transnational criminal organisations have increasingly been targeting victims in the United States via large-scale cyber scam operations. It has been estimated that more than US$7.2 billion (around S$9.2 billion) was lost last year due to these scam operations.

It added that Tai Chang, which is located in Myanmar’s Karen State, is a series of compounds conducting online fraud schemes, in particular, cryptocurrency investment fraud. The coordinates for the compounds were identified here.

Cryptocurrency investment fraud, also known as “pig butchering,” is one of the fastest-growing and most damaging forms of cybercrime.

Investigations carried out by the FBI have historically included tracing proceeds from funds as well as endeavours to recover the money victims have lost. As more and more criminals hold these funds in cryptocurrency, seizing digital assets “has become a powerful tool for disrupting criminal operations,” the statement said.

The US$10 million reward offer encourages the public to disclose information leading to further financial disruptions.

Two Chinese nationals who ran a scam compound in Burma and endeavoured to open another one in Cambodia were recently charged in the US, whose authorities seized a Telegram channel that was used in recruiting human trafficking victims to a scam compound in Cambodia. They also seized 503 fraudulent web domains that had been used in perpetrating cryptocurrency investment fraud.

Additionally, the US Treasury Department also announced sanctions against Cambodian senator Kok An, who is said to control scam compounds across the country, along with 28 individuals and entities in his network.

On April 30 (Thursday), it was announced that the  a coordinated government effort to combat cryptocurrency investment fraud focusing on the Tai Chang Scam enterprise would be partly led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Diego, together with international partners such as the FBI Legal Attaché in Bangkok, and supported by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia through its Scam Center Strike Force

US authorities have taken several actions against the network, including seizing a malicious website that impersonated a legitimate investment firm and tricked victims into downloading harmful software used to steal their funds. /TISG

Read also: US seizes scam site tied to Myanmar compound, a wake-up call for Southeast Asia’s expanding crypto fraud problem

This article (US offers S$12.7 million reward for information on Myanmar’s Tai Chang scam centers) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.