FATF Urges Global Action to Disrupt Scam Compounds

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has called for coordinated global action to dismantle scam compounds and disrupt the financial networks supporting their operations. Its new report, Combating End-to-End Illicit Financial Flows Linked to Scam Compounds, published on 5 November 2026, examines how organised criminal groups exploit financial services, virtual assets, technology, and telecommunications to generate and launder proceeds.

The report documents scam compound activity across Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Asia. It highlights two groups of victims: people trafficked and forced to conduct online scams, and individuals targeted by fraud schemes. More than 80 jurisdictions have been linked to people identified in Southeast Asian scam compounds. In Myanmar alone, an estimated 120,000 people are forced to carry out online scams. Meanwhile, victims across more than 100 jurisdictions have suffered financial losses through these operations.

Criminal networks use money mule accounts, cash, informal transfer services, virtual assets, and instant payment platforms to move illicit proceeds. Some compounds operate dedicated over-the-counter virtual asset exchange desks. The FATF also warns that instant payment services can move stolen funds from victims’ accounts within minutes.

Technology is further increasing the scale and reach of these operations. Criminals use artificial intelligence, deepfakes, automation, social media, and messaging platforms to make scams more convincing and harder to detect. Enforcement pressure has also pushed some operators towards smaller, mobile operations using locations such as rented apartments, casinos, coffee shops, and vehicles.

The report calls for authorities to move beyond targeting physical compounds and individual transactions. Instead, they should investigate the wider criminal ecosystem, including network leaders, financial facilitators, recruitment channels, and technology providers. Early indicators such as fraudulent job advertisements, malicious domains, suspicious phone numbers, and recruitment activity can help identify threats before victims transfer funds.

The FATF has introduced six principles to guide global disruption efforts. These emphasise targeting criminal networks, disrupting illicit financial flows, strengthening cross-sector information sharing, accelerating cross-border action, protecting victims, and adapting enforcement strategies as criminal operations evolve.

The report includes nearly 120 case studies and good practices from more than 60 jurisdictions. Examples include Indonesia’s Anti-Scam Centre blocking over 515,000 accounts and returning approximately USD 10.9 million to victims between November 2024 and May 2026. The FATF will continue working with public and private sector partners through February 2027 to identify scalable solutions against cyber-enabled fraud.