Trump touts $1.6 billion cybercrime losses prevented

President Donald Trump convened Pete Hegseth, Todd Blanche, Markwayne Mullin, and Kash Patel for a White House East Room roundtable on Oct. 21, 2026, on cybercrime. Trump said law enforcement warned over 10,000 targeted Americans, prevented at least $1.6 billion in losses this year, froze nearly $1 billion in cyber currency tied to foreign scammers, and shut down more than 500 fraudulent websites. Blanche reported that an April FBI-Dubai Police operation arrested at least 276 people and dismantled at least nine scam centers. Mullin said Americans over 60 lost $7.7 billion to cybercrime in 2025. Patel said Operation Blackout demolished more than 20 overseas compounds and seized over $17 billion, with Meta, Google, Microsoft, and IBM cooperating. Trump cited a March executive order creating a victims' recovery program, an August memorandum letting vetted private firms run cyber operations against criminal groups, and the Take It Down Act on sexual extortion, which he said Melania Trump championed. Trump called the problem very negative and the response very positive, saying the administration would put a very big dent in decades of unchecked activity. Hegseth linked cyber syndicates to enemy militaries. Outlets noted Trump and Blanche said cybercurrency rather than cryptocurrency.