The U.S. Department of Justice seized Telegram channels and cryptocurrency wallets linked to Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language platform with over 650,000 users accused of enabling scams against Americans.
The big picture: Xinbi operated on Telegram as an escrow service for vendors offering custom scam websites, money-laundering services, and recruitment for scam operations, some involving trafficking victims for work in Southeast Asian scam centers.
- Coordinated DOJ and Treasury actions led to the restraint of more than $52 million in cryptocurrency in a single day, with the Strike Force’s total restrained funds now about $938 million.
- U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the platform threatened every American with a retirement account and vowed to continue dismantling organized crime operations targeting Americans.
Go deeper: A federal judge authorized the seizure of Telegram marketplace channels and two cryptocurrency wallets holding roughly $12 million, with authorities moving to restrain an additional 47 crypto wallets suspected of money laundering.
- Stablecoin issuer Tether assisted investigators in the operation.
- The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Xinbi and related companies, declaring Xinbi a significant transnational criminal organization and linking it to over $24 billion in processed digital and traditional currency since 2022.
- Other sanctioned entities include Singapore-based SafeW Technology Co. and Cambodia-based Anwen Technology Co. for their roles in helping Xinbi.
Driving the news: As scrutiny increased in 2025, Xinbi shifted some operations to SafeW, an encrypted messaging app, and launched its own crypto payment tool, XinbiPay/NewPay.
- According to the FBI, there were roughly 453,000 cyber-enabled fraud complaints in 2025, with $17.7 billion reported lost – nearly half from investment scams, and over $11 billion involving cryptocurrency.
Credit: Source link
