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U.S. Disrupts Xinbi Guarantee Scam Marketplace, Freezes $52.8 Million in Crypto
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- DeepHorus
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced coordinated actions against Xinbi Guarantee, an illicit online marketplace offering scam services. Authorities seized Telegram channels used to run the service, confiscated two cryptocurrency wallets, and deployed the Scam Center Strike Force to Madagascar to help disrupt 13 scam compounds operated by Chinese organized crime syndicates. The action marks a significant escalation in U.S. efforts to dismantle cyber-enabled fraud networks targeting Americans.
The DoJ said approximately $52 million in cryptocurrency involved in scam money laundering was restrained in a single day, bringing the total restrained by the Scam Center Strike Force to roughly $938 million. In tandem, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Chinese-language media outlet for facilitating cyber scams, fraud, money laundering, and other criminal activity. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said scam centers in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars from American victims each year.
Xinbi Guarantee is a Telegram-oriented marketplace that rose to prominence after the closure of similar storefronts HuiOne Guarantee and its successor Tudou Guarantee last year. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, which worked with the U.S. Secret Service, identified and helped freeze wallets holding $52.8 million in Tether's USDT stablecoin. Elliptic described Xinbi as the second largest illicit marketplace of all time, with $30 billion in transactions since its inception around 2022.
Earlier this January, Elliptic founder Dr. Tom Robinson told The Hacker News that Xinbi recovered after Telegram's intervention and that the messaging platform refused to take further action. Like its predecessors, Xinbi acts as an intermediary between vendors and scam center operators running "pig butchering" romance scams. The platform offers services such as creating fake investment websites, laundering stolen funds, and soliciting trafficking victims for scam compounds.
The DoJ explained that Xinbi holds money in escrow until vendors complete services, assuring scammers that payments will be released. The Treasury added that the platform has reportedly been used by North Korean hackers and OFAC-designated entities, including Jin Bei Group and entities tied to the Prince Group TCO. Beyond dismantling Telegram channels, authorities seized two cryptocurrency wallets Xinbi used to collect vendor payments.
This coordinated crackdown highlights the growing focus on financial infrastructure behind Southeast Asian scam networks. With billions flowing through such marketplaces, further disruptions are likely as U.S. agencies continue targeting the enablers of transnational fraud.
