The Department of Justice is going after the leader of one of the groups sending scam emails and text messages.
Investigators accused Chen “Vicent” Zhi of leading a sophisticated crime network based in Cambodia.
They say he runs a company called The Prince Group that’s operating 10 scam compounds, which is a building where people inside are often held against their will and forced to contact potential victims to try and scam them out of money.
Federal officials have already seized $15B in Bitcoin from Zhi.
Former Santa Clara County Prosecutor Erin West went to Cambodia to investigate these scammers, spoke with people connected to the “Scamming Compounds” and also started a nonprofit called Operation Shamrock, working to shed light on this type of organized crime.
West spoke with NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai about this situation and tracking overseas scams. Watch the full interview in the video player above.
Source: NBC Bay Area