President Trump on Wednesday vowed to crack down on foreign criminal networks that have bilked Americans out of tens of billions of dollars through online fraud schemes and cryptocurrency scams.
At a White House event, Mr. Trump and members of his Cabinet highlighted their efforts to dismantle international fraud networks, seize their websites and prevent future fraud.
The president was joined by FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to underscore their efforts to treat international crime as a national security threat.
People were interested in these podcasts
Mr. Trump said the new approach has paid off, noting that in the past year his administration has prevented $1.6 billion in losses, frozen nearly $1 billion cyber currency tied to foreign scammers and shut down more than 500 fraudulent websites.
“Under the Trump administration, we have marshaled the full force of the federal government to combat this scourge,” Mr. Trump said. “We have people who do nothing but this, and they are really good at it.”
Mr. Hegseth said the administration is using Defense Department intelligence and technology to track overseas cyber networks and ensure law enforcement has what it needs to disrupt scammers.
“We’ve also seen there’s a very clear connection between transnational cyber syndicates and enemy militaries and how they fund themselves,” Mr. Hegseth said.
Wednesday’s roundtable follows a March directive from Mr. Trump authorizing a more aggressive campaign against cybercriminals. The president’s memorandum called for the Justice and Homeland Security departments to coordinate cyber operations to disrupt overseas criminal networks. It also encouraged partnerships with private companies to identify and dismantle online threats.
The White House gathering also comes amid mounting concerns about the staggering financial toll of cybercrime.
More than 1 million complaints were filed with the FBI over the past year, with victims reporting record financial losses. That’s a 17% increase from 2024, according to the agency, which said Americans who filed complaints reported the highest losses.
Mr. Trump said cybercrime victims lost a combined total of $20 billion over the past year.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.