STATE DEPARTMENT IMPOSES VISA RESTRICTIONS ON FOREIGN CYBER SCAMMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of State announced a new visa restriction policy targeting foreign nationals responsible for or complicit in cybercrime, cyber-enabled fraud, cyberscams, and sextortion schemes directed at Americans.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the policy on Thursday, July 23, 2026, during the final day of his visit to the Philippines for meetings connected with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The restrictions may also extend to immediate family members of individuals involved in the identified criminal enterprises.

“Today I am announcing a new policy that will restrict visas to foreign nationals responsible for or complicit in cybercrime and cyber-enabled crimes that have devastated American families and children,” Rubio said.

The policy gives the State Department another means of imposing consequences on cybercriminals who operate beyond the immediate reach of American law enforcement. It does not replace criminal prosecution, extradition, asset seizure, economic sanctions, or international investigations. Visa restrictions can prevent designated individuals from entering the United States even when criminal charges have not been filed in an American court.

The restrictions are being implemented under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the secretary of state to restrict entry when there are reasonable grounds to believe that a foreign national’s admission could produce potentially serious adverse foreign-policy consequences for the United States.

The policy applies globally and is not limited to one country, organization, or type of cyber-enabled crime.

“This policy targets individuals responsible for, or complicit in, cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, such as those involved in cyberscams and sextortion,” Rubio said. “By restricting visa issuance to those who are responsible for or complicit in these criminal enterprises, we are sending a clear message: The United States will go after those who prey on our citizens.”

The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order directing federal agencies to strengthen the government’s response to cybercrime, fraud, and predatory schemes against American citizens.

Executive Order 14390 ordered the State Department, Department of the Treasury, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of War, and Office of the National Cyber Director to review existing diplomatic, regulatory, technical, and operational tools used against transnational criminal organizations.

The order also required the development of an action plan identifying criminal organizations responsible for scam centers and other cyber-enabled offenses. The plan was required to address the prevention, disruption, investigation, and dismantling of foreign criminal networks targeting American citizens, businesses, critical infrastructure, and public services.

A dedicated operational cell within the National Coordination Center was included in the order to improve federal coordination, information sharing, threat attribution, rapid response, and cooperation with private-sector cybersecurity organizations.

The March directive authorized the use of several diplomatic and economic consequences against foreign governments that tolerate scam compounds or fail to act against criminal organizations operating inside their borders. Those measures include targeted sanctions, restrictions on foreign assistance, trade penalties, visa restrictions, and the possible expulsion of foreign officials or diplomats found to be complicit in the schemes.

The executive order also directed the attorney general to prioritize prosecutions involving scam centers, sextortion, and cyber-enabled fraud. It called for a federal recommendation on creating a Victims Restoration Program that could return seized, forfeited, or recovered criminal proceeds to people harmed by these operations.

Federal authorities have described foreign scam centers as organized criminal enterprises rather than isolated groups of online fraudsters. The operations can involve large compounds staffed by people who were recruited through false job advertisements, transported across borders, confined, threatened, or forced to conduct fraudulent cryptocurrency, investment, romance, impersonation, and extortion schemes.

Rubio said Chinese transnational criminal organizations are frequently associated with these operations. According to the State Department, foreign scammers defrauded Americans of at least $10 billion through online investment schemes during 2024 while supporting criminal activity involving money laundering, corruption, and human trafficking.

The White House has reported that American consumers disclosed more than $12.5 billion in losses from cyber-enabled fraud during 2024. Senior citizens, children, and financially vulnerable households have been identified as major targets.

Sextortion schemes present a separate threat to children and teenagers. Offenders commonly obtain or solicit intimate images, then threaten to distribute the material unless the victim sends money, provides additional images, or complies with other demands. Some perpetrators operate individually, while others participate in organized foreign networks targeting large numbers of victims through social media, messaging platforms, gaming services, and compromised online accounts.

The policy announcement coincided with expanded American engagement in Southeast Asia, where several countries continue confronting industrial-scale scam compounds and the criminal networks supporting them.

FBI Director Kash Patel held separate meetings with regional leaders during the week to discuss efforts against foreign scam operations. Rubio also discussed scam centers with Cambodia’s foreign minister on Thursday as part of the administration’s diplomatic effort to pressure governments to investigate, dismantle, and prevent criminal compounds operating within their jurisdictions.

The FBI has stated that its work against overseas scam centers has involved foreign law-enforcement partnerships, the identification of trafficked workers, the recovery of criminal proceeds, and efforts to apprehend suspects operating from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other regions.

During a June 4 federal announcement, Patel said the FBI had led operations against scam-center compounds in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and was working with international and interagency partners to bring individuals responsible for large-scale fraud to justice.

“The fraudsters have created programs overseas that have fleeced Americans of billions of dollars,” Patel said. “There is no distance we won’t travel to make sure we apprehend each and every one of these individuals.”

The new visa restrictions expand a diplomatic tactic the State Department has used against other categories of cyber activity. In February 2024, the department established a policy covering foreign nationals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware, including individuals who directed or materially assisted surveillance operations targeting journalists, activists, government officials, dissidents, and other people perceived as threats by foreign governments or private actors. Immediate family members could also be covered by that policy.

The latest restrictions focus on criminal networks that exploit digital platforms, stolen identities, cryptocurrency systems, financial accounts, coerced labor, and cross-border money movement to victimize Americans. They also reach beyond the individuals directly communicating with victims by allowing action against people who facilitate, finance, manage, protect, or otherwise participate in the underlying enterprises.

No specific foreign nationals were publicly designated when the State Department announced the policy. Individual visa records are generally confidential under federal law, meaning the department may impose restrictions without releasing the names of every affected person.

The policy adds immigration and diplomatic consequences to the federal government’s broader campaign against overseas cybercrime organizations. Its effectiveness will depend on the identification of responsible individuals, cooperation from foreign governments, financial tracing, intelligence sharing, criminal investigations, and sustained action against the infrastructure that allows scam operations to continue.

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