Operation Shamrock: The Year in Review
Webinar Wrap: Ongoing efforts and future directions in the fight against the scamdemic.
Erin West leads a conversation about Operation Shamrock’s efforts to expose and fight the scam industry run by transnational organized crime. In the meeting, we discuss ongoing efforts, future directions, and enthusiasm for the momentum achieved so far
“The first thing people want to do is report to law enforcement. We need to make sure law enforcement is ready to accept those and do something with them.” — Erin West
Your speakers are:
Erin West, Founder of Operation Shamrock and Former Prosecutor
Jacob Sims, Human Rights and Transnational Crime Expert
Jason Tower, United States Institute for Peace, Global Initiative against Transnational Crime
Key Takeaways
Erin, Jake, and Jason talk about their trip to Southeast Asia earlier in 2025. They share photographs taken of the KK Park compound
Cambodia Scam Compounds: Approximately 250 to 350 compounds generate $12.5 to $20 billion annually in Cambodia, with elite government officials involved.
KK Park Crackdowns: The Myanmar military has raided multiple compounds, but many scam bosses had already relocated. Jason talks about the differences between what Myanmar is reporting and the actual statistics. The promotion of the raids appears more performative than genuine.
Global Scam Prevention: Worsening criminal activities require a more significant, coordinated global response. Dividing responsibilities among organizations could help prevent siloed efforts. Education and law enforcement readiness are critical.
Law Enforcement Support: Cross-collaboration of state, local, and federal agencies is vital to address the complexity of scams. Operation Shamrock works with multiple organizations to help educate and equip law enforcement with what they need to investigate and fight cryptocurrency-related crimes.
Crypto Coalition: Erin highlights several members of the Crypto Coalition and what they’ve done within their jurisdictions. The law-enforcement group provides monthly training webinars and did a two-week series in September to help members build their skills.
New Threats in Africa: Transnational organizations, particularly Chinese, are setting up compounds in multiple African nations as well as actively using job scams to traffic people from Africa to Southeast Asia.
Operation Shamrock Accomplishments
Education: Erin West has presented live to more than 15,000 people this year alone. In addition to conferences and webinars, she has presented to the Council of Europe, the California Little Hoover Commission, and the United Nations in Nairobi.
Advocacy: We’ve partnered with groups including AARP to focus on making things better, including supporting the regulation of Bitcoin ATMs/Crypto kiosks.
Insights: The Operation Shamrock Triage team is a group of law enforcement professionals who trace scam complaints reported through our website and connect the victims with services whenever we can.
First-Person Perspective: Erin has traveled to places including Cambodia, the Philippines, Uganda, and Kenya, where she has seen the scam compounds and met trafficking survivors who were forced to work in them.
Looking Forward in the Fight Against Scams
Beyond education, we want to engage in more collaborative conversations with agencies, industry, and peers that are designed to map out strategies and take action.
We need to scale the education, training, and tool access that we’ve done with the Crypto Coalition to reach more of law enforcement to support more victims.
We’ve built our capacity with the operationshamrock.org website, which includes support resources, a reporting portal, educational content, podcasts, news articles, and different ways you can help.
Train the Trainer events educate people to support their own communities by providing information about scams, how to avoid them, and what to do if a scammer steals from you.
We’re working to change the narrative from “scams happen to older people” to “anyone can be a scam target.” Scammers have scripts for everyone.
Resources
Support Partners: Access resources from trusted organizations, including counseling for victims, families, and allies.
Online Scam Resources: Stay informed about scams, fraud, and the efforts to prevent and stop them.
Stolen Podcast: Hear from law enforcement, cybersecurity experts, and the victims who’ve lived it in a weekly podcast.
Recent News from Our Resource Library
