FBI Director Kash Patel told US lawmakers on Tuesday, 16 September 2026 that the bureau had seized $17 billion tied to international scam centres, rescued thousands of trafficked workers, and made hundreds of arrests during joint operations across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The disclosures came during an oversight hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Patel painted a stark picture of a global fraud industry he valued at roughly $240 billion annually.

Scale of the Fraud Crisis

Patel described the overall criminal ecosystem as staggering in size. 'The entire enterprise is probably $240 billion in fraud, and that's probably low,' he told senators. He outlined two broad categories of criminal activity: fraud targeting government programmes — including Medicare, Medicaid, food assistance and pandemic-era business relief — and scam centres that directly contact victims by telephone, email or text message.

'They are looking to basically call, email, text you and your constituents across this country and take you for everything you've got, your retirement, your life savings, your kids' college education, what have you,' Patel said, addressing lawmakers directly.

Operation Blackout: Raiding Cross-Border Compounds

The FBI launched Operation Blackout specifically to dismantle scam centres operating across national borders, including in Burma and Thailand. Patel described it as the only law enforcement-led US government initiative focused on such compounds. The bureau worked alongside foreign law enforcement partners during the raids.

'We stood up a symposium there. We went and raided four compounds there,' Patel said. 'We raided another in the Middle East. We seized $17 billion in illicit gotten gains out of these scam center fraud schemes. We freed thousands of trafficked workers and made hundreds of arrests.' He did not identify the Middle Eastern country involved, nor did he provide a detailed breakdown of the seized funds, arrests, or the number of rescued workers.

Patel noted that some of the targeted compounds were vast enough to resemble small cities. Workers allegedly trafficked into these facilities were reportedly forced to conduct online fraud against victims in other countries. 'We went in there with our partners and bulldozed them to end the fraud,' he said.

Most Wanted Fraudsters List: Six Captured

The FBI director also revealed that the bureau had apprehended six fugitives from its newly created Most Wanted Fraudsters list. These suspects had collectively evaded capture for approximately 5,000 days before being caught. One individual was arrested in Vietnam after allegedly defrauding the US Medicaid programme of more than $100 million. Other suspects had reportedly fled to Africa, Southeast Asia, and other distant jurisdictions after allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of dollars.

'We brought them all back to be prosecuted,' Patel said. 'And we're looking to seize all those funds.'

Political Response and the Push for Coordinated Action

Republican Senator Ashley Moody of Florida highlighted that older Americans are disproportionately targeted by online and telephone scams, and called for tighter coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement. When asked whether Congress should establish dedicated inter-agency teams to combat scams targeting senior citizens, Patel's response was unambiguous: 'Do it and do it yesterday.'

This comes amid growing recognition of organised scam centres as a major transnational crime problem across Southeast Asia, where criminal groups routinely deploy fraudulent investment schemes, fake romantic relationships, cryptocurrency fraud, and impersonation scams to extract money from victims worldwide. With Operation Blackout now public and Congress being pressed for legislative action, the scale of the FBI's counter-fraud push is only expected to grow.