US announces new visa restrictions targeting cybercrime, online scam networks

Rubio says the new policy, introduced under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

The new visa rule takes effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, subject to congressional review. PHOTO: FILE

The United States has announced a new global visa restriction policy targeting individuals responsible for or complicit in cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, including cyberscams and sextortion, according to a press statement issued by the US Department of State

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the move follows President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14390 on Combatting Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens, under which the administration is taking action to counter an unprecedented threat from online investment scams

According to the statement, scammers, often orchestrated by Chinese transnational criminal organisations, defrauded US citizens of at least $10 billion in 2024 alone while fuelling corruption, money laundering and human trafficking. It added that American children have also been specifically targeted by offenders operating overseas for sextortion scams

Rubio said the new policy, introduced under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, targets individuals responsible for or complicit in cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, including those involved in cyberscams and sextortion. Immediate family members of individuals engaged in such illicit activities may also be subject to visa restrictions

The statement said the Trump administration would deploy sanctions, prosecutions, asset seizures, extradition requests and international law enforcement cooperation to dismantle criminal scam networks and impose costs on those who enable them

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