The United States has imposed sanctions on the transnational criminal organisation Xinbi Guarantee, a shadowy Chinese-language platform used by international criminal groups and money-laundering networks to support cyber-fraud operations targeting Americans.
This was reported by US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, Ukrinform writes.
The sanctions were imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury. At the same time, two other companies that supported Xinbi Guarantee’s activities were also hit with restrictions — SafeW Technology and Anwen Technology, based in Singapore and Cambodia respectively.
The US State Department noted that scam centres in South-East Asia steal billions of dollars from American citizens every year.
According to US authorities, Xinbi Guarantee operates a large illicit online marketplace that has been used for cyber fraud, running scam schemes, laundering funds and other criminal activity targeting US citizens.
According to the US Treasury, since the platform was established around 2022, digital assets and fiat currency worth more than $24bn have passed through Xinbi Guarantee.
The platform primarily served operations in South-East Asian countries.
Xinbi Guarantee also provided escrow services to operators of scam centres, money-laundering networks and cybercriminal groups.
According to US authorities, the platform was used, among others, by North Korean hackers and a number of entities already under sanctions.
The United States stressed that the sanctions are part of efforts to counter transnational cybercriminal networks that use digital assets to carry out fraudulent operations and launder illegally obtained funds.
- The Trump administration imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran’s aviation sector, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo air-transport providers, in an effort to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners.