Trump to Crack Down on Foreign Crypto Scams Targeting Americans
President Donald Trump has unveiled a plan to ramp up the U.S. government’s efforts to combat foreign cryptocurrency scam networks that prey on American investors. The White House is preparing to ramp up enforcement actions, including website seizures and efforts to curb online investment fraud.
The planned announcement comes as concerns grow over international cybercrime, fraudulent cryptocurrency investments and online impersonation schemes that cause significant financial losses for Americans.
Trump to Stress Crackdown on Foreign Crypto Scams
Trump will speak at the White House on Wednesday about federal efforts to curb fraud surrounding overseas investment in cryptocurrencies. A person familiar with the plans said authorities have taken down websites that officials say criminals used to promote bogus investment opportunities and scam would-be victims.
The administration will also highlight online impersonation scams where scammers pose as legitimate businesses, investment professionals or financial services. These tactics can persuade victims to transfer money via cryptocurrency transactions to criminal networks.”
Several senior officials are expected to attend the event including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Todd Blanche. Their involvement shows the administration’s emphasis on working across agencies to tackle cyber-enabled financial crime.
At the same time, research into cryptocurrency scams using AI has raised more red flags. Fraudsters are increasingly using deepfake videos, fake identities and social engineering to pose as legitimate sources of investment opportunities.
FBI: More Than $11 Billion Lost to Cryptocurrency Scams
The 2025 Internet Crime Report from the FBI highlights the increasing financial damage caused by online fraud in the United States. Americans filed 1,008,597 internet crime complaints in 2025, an increase of about 17% from the 859,532 complaints logged in 2024, the report said.
Losses from cybercrime reported neared $21 billion, with a big chunk of the total stemming from crypto-related fraud.
The FBI logged 181,565 complaints on cryptocurrencies with losses reported to be over $11 billion. Investment fraud accounted for a large share of the losses, showing how criminals take advantage of the growing interest in electronic assets to target investors.
Older Americans were especially hard hit. On the statistics front, that age group of 60 and over lost an estimated $7.7 billion, highlighting the importance of fraud awareness, identity protection and improved cybersecurity practices.
These figures underscore the importance of investors doing due diligence on the cryptocurrency platforms, steering clear of any promises of guarantyd returns and independently verifying the identity of those giving investment advice.White House Tightens Enforcement Against Overseas Criminal Networks
The planned crackdown is part of wider federal efforts to fight transnational cybercrime. In March, Trump ordered the Justice Department to make online fraud investigations and prosecutions a priority.
On August 12, the administration expanded its approach to disrupting foreign cyber-enabled criminal organizations with a presidential memorandum. The order called for Homeland Security officials to work with private cybersecurity companies to help with intelligence collection and operations under federal government direction.
Cooperation between government agencies and cybersecurity experts could help authorities find fraudulent websites, investigate criminal networks and disrupt infrastructure used to target American victims.
But enforcement alone cannot eliminate cryptocurrency fraud. Investors should be cautious when receiving unsolicited offers to invest, suspicious links and requests to transfer electronic assets.
Overall, the planned announcement indicates a stronger federal focus on foreign cryptocurrency scam networks and online financial crime. Website seizures, coordinated investigations and public awareness campaigns could help protect investors but the effectiveness of these measures will depend on continued enforcement and international cooperation.
