Remarks delivered by Deputy Assistant Secretary David Bedard of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs at the Global Fraud Summit
March 16, 2026
Thank you Chair and thank you to the United Kingdom for its leadership in sponsoring this Global Fraud Summit.
The United States endorses the Call to Action, Global Public-Private Partnership, and the United Kingdom-led commitment among select Member States and industry partners to strengthen collaboration to combat scams and other cybercrimes.
Too many Americans have suffered from cyber fraud, particularly from scam operations emanating from Southeast Asia. Americans lost over $10 billion in 2024 alone and we estimate the losses to be even higher in 2025. But the true cost is not in dollars alone. Behind every statistic is a human story – a family bankrupted, a retiree left destitute, or a young person driven to suicide.
On March 6th, President Trump introduced a new Executive Order, marking a turning point in the United States’ fight against cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes targeting Americans. The United States is deploying every tool at our disposal—sanctions, prosecutions, asset seizures, and international law enforcement cooperation—to dismantle transnational cybercrime networks and hold accountable those who enable them.
The United States has already taken action, sanctioning hundreds of targets in Southeast Asia alone, including within the Prince Group transnational criminal organization for facilitating online scams and targeting actors like the Huione Group for laundering the proceeds of scams.
The United States has also conducted the largest forfeiture action in U.S. history, seizing $15 billion in bitcoin and charging Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhi with wire fraud and money laundering for directing operations of scam compounds in Cambodia.
We’ve launched a new interagency Scam Center Strike Force, comprising the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colombia, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Secret Service, and the Department of State to identify and pursue these criminal networks.
But we know the threat is evolving, and we are prepared to develop new tools and strategies as needed to prevent scammers and other cybercrime actors from stealing from and harming Americans. Cybercrime is proliferating around the world, so we must stay vigilant and build partnerships to combat it.
This October, the United States will table a resolution at the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, focused on combatting the criminal networks engaged in transnational fraud. We urge all governments to join us, to match our resolve, and to deliver real protection for all of our citizens.
Thank you.
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