FinCEN has linked about $12.7 billion in suspicious funds to crypto investment scams run by Southeast Asian scam compounds, according to a new analysis and alert. The agency said 1,300 institutions filed 33,904 suspicious activity reports between September 2023 and December 2025, with crypto money services businesses accounting for 55% of reports and banks 41%. The filings involved $5.5 billion and $6.4 billion respectively. The scams mainly used ETH, USDT and USDC, with nearly all illicit proceeds ultimately converted into USDT before being laundered through DeFi protocols or offshore trading platforms. FinCEN said victims were reported across all 50 states and across age groups, while some suffered losses severe enough to create a risk of self-harm. The agency said the scam compounds are concentrated in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, often relying on human trafficking and fake job recruitment, and that the model is spreading beyond Southeast Asia. FinCEN also said its Rapid Response Program has blocked $1.8 billion since 2015 and helped recover more than $1 billion for 5,790 U.S. victims.