Trump Issues Memo to Help Combat Foreign Criminal Networks

The memorandum calls for the creation of a program to disrupt ransomware, scams, and fraud targeting Americans.

The logo of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on computer terminals of the Cyber Crimes Center of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Fairfax, Va., on Oct. 13, 2009. Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed a memo on Wednesday that empowers federal law enforcement to use cyber tools against transnational criminal organizations operating overseas and targeting Americans, the White House said.

The memorandum directs the Homeland Security Task Force’s National Coordination Center to establish a program for specific cyber operations that disrupt these foreign groups. Two executive directors, one from the Department of Justice and one from the Department of Homeland Security, will oversee it.

The program will draw on private-sector capabilities under strict U.S. government authority. Companies that choose to participate may enter agreements with other private entities and with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies to share threat information and propose operations. The executive directors and the Homeland Security Council must develop rigorous review procedures to ensure compliance with the Constitution, U.S. law, and applicable international agreements.

According to a White House fact sheet, ransomware attacks, phishing campaigns, financial fraud, sextortion schemes, and impersonation scams are frequently coordinated by sophisticated transnational criminal organizations based outside the United States.

Seniors, children, and low-income families are disproportionately targeted. American consumers reported losing more than $20.8 billion to cyber-enabled crime in 2025. Seventy-three percent of U.S. adults have experienced some form of online scam or attack, and 98 percent view scams as a threat to individuals in the country.

The memorandum builds on earlier administration steps. In March, Trump signed an executive order directing a review of tools to combat transnational criminal organizations engaged in cyber-enabled crime and requiring an action plan that includes an operational cell inside the National Coordination Center. Other measures include the Take It Down Act, signed in May 2025 and focused on nonconsensual intimate images and deepfakes, with the first conviction under the law recorded in April 2026.

FBI Director Kash Patel told The Epoch Times this week that the bureau has seized $15.2 billion in illicit funds over the past 14 months, made hundreds of arrests, taken down nine scam compounds and notified more than 9,900 victims—77 percent of whom did not know they were targets. Agents also shut down 8,000 terminals used by the operations.

“We literally had folks from across the country writing back to the FBI saying, ‘You saved our life savings. You saved our kids’ college tuition,’” Patel said. “And some of them were actually considering killing themselves because it’s such an embarrassing thing to be a victim of this atrocity, of this crime.”

He said the goal is to “annihilate the compounds wherever they are.”

In June, the Treasury Department sanctioned 35 individuals and entities linked to the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization, a Cambodia-based network accused of operating scam compounds and laundering proceeds.

Authorities estimated Americans lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to Southeast Asia-based scam operations. The Justice Department simultaneously seized a cloud computing account tied to related money-laundering services as part of the FBI’s Operation Riptide.

In July, federal prosecutors unsealed indictments against three Russian nationals and two companies accused of providing infrastructure for ransomware, phishing and other cyberattacks that contributed to at least $61 million in damages across 21 states. The State Department offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on associates of the defendants.

The White House fact sheet states that the American private sector remains the most innovative and technologically advanced in the world and offers a critical offensive cyber advantage. Partnering with vetted U.S. companies, it said, will strengthen efforts to counter transnational cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes.

The memorandum requires the program’s executive directors to produce a status report within 180 days and annually thereafter. No operations may proceed without written approval and direction from the federal government.

Reuters contributed to this report.