Police train on crypto scam compounds in Asia-Pacific

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Elliptic delivered a regional training programme for Asia-Pacific law enforcement officers on disrupting scam compounds. The four-day course brought together officers from 11 countries at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation in Indonesia.

The programme focused on how cryptoassets are used in organised cyber fraud, including victim onboarding in so-called pig butchering schemes and the cross-border movement of proceeds. Led by Dr Arda Akartuna, APAC Crypto Threat Intelligence Lead at Elliptic, the training covered scam typologies, online fraud marketplaces, on-chain obfuscation methods and the use of blockchain analytics in criminal investigations.

Participants also took part in a simulation exercise in which they analysed a seized cryptoasset wallet and traced transactions with Elliptic Investigator, the company's investigations software. Designed to mirror the stages of a raid on a scam compound, the exercise ran from identifying a suspect address to starting a mock asset seizure process with virtual asset compliance teams.

Regional pressure

The training comes as pressure on scam compound operators rises across the region. Authorities in countries including Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia have increased enforcement action in recent years through sanctions, extraditions and infrastructure takedowns, seeking to curb large-scale fraud networks that target victims across borders.

Yet the fraud economy remains adaptable. New compounds, marketplaces and methods continue to emerge as older operations are disrupted, increasing pressure on investigators to keep pace with changing payment flows and concealment techniques.

Elliptic's work with police forces in Asia-Pacific centres on three areas where blockchain analysis can support investigations: data, intelligence and tracing. The first involves identifying and labelling wallet addresses so that public blockchain records can be used as evidence and operational leads.

Elliptic's research team has used that approach to examine the ecosystem around scam compounds in Cambodia, including transaction flows tied to spending by workers inside a complex and payments to merchants operating there. During the training, officers were shown how similar analysis can identify which vendors on guarantee marketplaces handle larger volumes, what services they sell and how funds move between actors linked to the fraud trade.

Emerging threats

A second strand of the programme focused on intelligence gathering around new criminal methods. As older marketplaces are shut down, investigators face replacement networks that can quickly become established, particularly when they draw on newer tools such as artificial intelligence.

Officers were trained to trace payments to AI-explicit deepfake generators that researchers have linked to known scammers involved in pig butchering and sextortion operations. The aim was to help law enforcement identify investigative leads earlier and gather evidence on the deception tactics used against victims.

The course also covered the use of open-source intelligence alongside transaction analysis to identify emerging criminal typologies. That included monitoring technologies whose misuse is changing fraud methods, especially AI-based tools.

Tracing funds

The third area focused on tracing transactions to identify suspects, block access to illicit funds, and support victim recovery. Officers were shown common methods used to obscure cryptoasset flows, as well as on- and off-ramps frequently associated with scam activity, including no-KYC cryptoasset ATMs, over-the-counter brokers, online gambling platforms and providers of fake KYC generation services.

The practical sessions examined behavioural risk indicators in on-chain activity and how those patterns can help investigators decide where to focus resources. By walking officers through transaction trails and compliance engagement steps, the programme aimed to provide a template for handling cases that span several jurisdictions.

The collaboration reflects growing recognition among law enforcement agencies that cryptoasset analysis has become a core part of anti-fraud work in the region. Scam compounds rely on digital assets not only to receive funds from victims but also to move money through networks of vendors, brokers and marketplaces that may stretch across multiple countries.

Elliptic contributed its training and expertise to the programme in kind as part of its counter-fraud work in Asia-Pacific. The objective was to strengthen operational readiness among police forces confronting organised cyber fraud networks that are transnational, profitable and rapidly evolving.

The course underlined how enforcement agencies are trying to build a shared investigative base as fraud operations become more structured and international. For officers attending from 11 countries, the emphasis was on following transaction trails quickly enough to support raids, seizures, and the collection of evidence that can stand up to cross-border scrutiny.

The programme was the first regional training course focused specifically on disrupting scam compounds.