23-07-2025
Sinister way the greatest threat to America is using DATING APPS to attack us... here's how you spot it
It started much like any other flirty friendship on Facebook.
As Dennis and Jessie got to know each other over the coming weeks, the conversation turned from chit-chat to an exciting cryptocurrency venture.
Before he knew it, Dennis, 82, a divorced Maryland grandfather, was pouring his savings into the scheme, at the suggestion of his pushy, younger internet companion.
When Jessie disappeared, Dennis realized he'd been duped, and his investment gains were bogus. It sent him into a black hole of financial ruin and self recrimination.
He took his own life in March 2024 from the shame and heartbreak, his family says.
And here's the kicker — this wasn't an ordinary scam, it was bigger, darker, and stoked by geopolitical tensions.
Dennis was ensnared in a criminal web that steals billions from Americans each year, and has influential connections up through the Chinese Community Party (CCP).
A bombshell report from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) says online cons are a new front in the contest between the US and China.
Dennis Jones, 82, unexpectedly took his life in March 2024 after falling victim to a 'pig-butchering scam' after befriending a woman named Jessica on Facebook
Law enforcement raid a suspected online scam farm in Manila, in the Philippines, in January
The bosses of Southeast Asia's fraud factories are pals with bigwigs in Beijing, it is claimed.
They trumpet party propaganda and profit from state infrastructure development projects.
It is everyday Americans looking for love, work or friendship, who fall victim to their 'pig-butchering' cons, in which they're groomed for weeks and then 'slaughtered' for their savings.
Nowhere online is safe. From Tinder and TikTok to WhatsApp and Telegram, the scammers use a plethora of social media, job search and messaging apps to hunt for prey.
Mike Kuiken, a USCC commissioner, says Washington's piecemeal response is no match for the fast evolving industry, which uses flattery, flirting and AI text messages to fleece unsuspecting Americans.
'These things are industrial-scale fraud factories that are using some of the most modern technology available,' Kuiken said.
'I don't even think American law enforcement has figured out how to get their heads around this yet.'
Chinese diplomats in New York and Washington DC did not answer our requests for comment.
A spokesperson at China's embassy in Washington DC told the Daily Mail that the report amounted to 'groundless and malicious smear attacks' on the country, and that it worked hard to defeat online fraud.
The USCC, a powerful bipartisan panel that advises Congress, says fraud linked to China is spiraling out of control, with losses reaching more than $5 billion in 2024, a staggering 42 percent increase on the previous year.
The schemes are often tied to powerful Chinese mafia networks — some already sanctioned by the US government — that are also accused of laundering drug money and trafficking humans.
Experts say the scam centers are high-tech fraud factories, often located in old casino resorts in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and other lawless corners of Southeast Asia.
Scam bosses trick and force people into working at their fraud factories, such as these detained near the Thailand-Myanmar border
Dennis Jones' children, Matt Jones (right) and Adrianne Gruner (left), had planned to meet with their struggling father on the day he died to help him recover from the massive scam
In messages shared by the family, Dennis told Jessica that he would 'have 9000 in my trust wallet by Saturday'
The women convinced Dennis to drain his life savings, and even when he had nothing left to give and told her about his deteriorating mental health, she demanded more
Thousands of human trafficking victims are forced to staff them under threats of violence — a modern-day slavery crisis hiding behind digital screens.
One such network is allegedly led by notorious Chinese triad boss Wan Kuok Koi — also known as 'Broken Tooth' — who was recently exposed for his deep ties to the CCP.
That is one of several links between the scammers and Beijing detailed in the 12-page report.
The USCC said that Chinese authorities have taken selective action, cracking down only on scam centers that target their own citizens — but have done little to stop the fraud rings preying on Americans.
In fact, the report alleges that Chinese state interests are increasingly intertwined with the scam syndicates.
These crime groups are even investing in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects — Beijing's massive push to connect China to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East through roads, rail, and digital networks.
According to the commission, some con centers operate out of BRI-linked economic zones that have effectively become criminal havens.
Interpol has echoed the warning, saying the fraud networks are expanding their global footprint.
In a recent statement, the international policing agency said such scam centers have now been detected in the Middle East, Central America, and West Africa.
Meanwhile, the US response has been disjointed and underfunded, the commission said.
Law enforcement agencies struggle to keep up with the sophisticated tactics and cross-border financing behind these crimes.
Investigations are complicated by the use of cryptocurrency, shell companies, and money mules, making it nearly impossible to trace the cash once it vanishes into overseas bank accounts.
Chinese Mafia leader Wan Kuok Koi, better known as 'Broken Tooth Koi', was arrested in Macau in 1998
Myanmar police hand over five telecom and internet fraud suspects to Chinese police at in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2023
Experts describe a casino and cybercrime hub in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone along the Mekong river in the Bokeo province of Laos
Still, a growing number of money-laundering cases are being uncovered on American soil.
In one shocking case earlier this year, two Chinese nationals and their US accomplice were charged in California for laundering more than $13 million in romance scams.
The Justice Department last month seized $225 million in digital assets in what officials described as the largest crypto scam bust ever.
But the threat doesn't stop at money.
The report raises the alarm over Beijing potentially gaining access to massive troves of US personal data seized during raids on scam centers in lawless regions like Myanmar and Laos.
'They're collecting computers, communication devices, and they're collecting a lot of data on Americans, which should concern us as well,' Randall Schriver, a USCC vice chair and former Trump administration official, told the Washington Post.
The commission urged Congress to act fast — calling for greater public awareness, improved cybercrime enforcement, and stronger partnerships with Southeast Asian allies to block China's growing leverage.
A spokesperson for China's embassy in a statement slammed the USCC report.
'Chinese government stands firm in combating crimes of telecom and online fraud, fighting cross-border illegal and criminal activities and protecting the lawful rights and interests of Chinese citizens,' said the statement.
'China has worked closely with relevant countries to bust a large group of cross-border criminal gangs.'
At a time when Americans are already grappling with soaring inflation, economic uncertainty, and a rise in cybercrime, the fact that these cruel, exploitative scams are thriving with alleged backing from a hostile superpower is a bitter pill to swallow.
