Scammers defrauded U.S. citizens of more than $10 billion in 2024, according to figures cited by Senator Marco Rubio as the United States moved on Thursday to use visa policy against overseas cybercriminals.
Visa restrictions announced by the US secretary of state
The U.S. secretary of state announced new restrictions on Thursday that will deny or limit visa issuance to foreign nationals involved in cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, the announcement said. Senator Marco Rubio characterized the action as a targeted tool against "overseas investment scams 'often orchestrated by Chinese transnational criminal organizations,'" and noted the scale of fraud and related harms — including sextortion schemes that "prey on children" and can "devastate families and futures."
Legal authority: Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
The new policy rests on authority provided by Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which permits visa restrictions when an individual's entry or proposed activity could produce "serious adverse foreign policy consequences" for the United States. Rubio said the policy will apply primarily to those "responsible for, or complicit in, cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime." He also indicated the measure may extend to immediate family members of those individuals.
The announcement noted that the INA already contains other visa bars that can be applied in cybercrime cases: for example, Section 212(a)(2) can render foreign nationals ineligible for visas when they have convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude, a category that can include fraud.
Scope: targets include cyber-enabled investment scams and sextortion schemes
Rubio described the measures as part of a broader push against "overseas investment scams" and cyber-enabled harms that have tangible victims in the United States. He cited the more-than-$10 billion figure for 2024 and highlighted sextortion schemes that specifically target children. The announced policy is designed to add visa denial to an array of tools intended to raise the cost for those who run or enable these schemes.
Precedent: past uses of the same provision and comparable bans
The announcement follows a pattern of the same statutory tool being used for different foreign-policy objectives. Rubio has invoked Section 212(a)(3)(C) previously: in May 2025 to restrict visas for foreign officials who took steps to restrict U.S. citizens' freedom of expression; in March 2025 for a policy targeting private-sector workers who facilitated illegal immigration; and in September (year not specified in the announcement) to impose restrictions on Central Americans accused of helping the Chinese Communist Party undermine the rule of law in the region.
The announcement also noted that the Biden administration had used the same authority in 2021 to create what became known as the Khashoggi Ban — a visa restriction policy targeting people acting on behalf of foreign governments to suppress or harm dissidents following the Saudi government's murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
How those accused of cybercrime, foreign facilitators, and U.S. law enforcement are affected
- Those accused of cybercrime and their immediate families: Rubio said restrictions "may also extend to immediate family members," signaling a potentially broader reach of visa denials beyond primary suspects and into family units associated with accused actors.
- Foreign officials and private-sector facilitators: the same statutory provision has already been used to sanction foreign officials who limit free expression and private-sector workers tied to illegal immigration; the new statement extends that playbook to cyber-enabled criminal enterprises.
- U.S. enforcement and victims: Rubio framed visa denials as a complement to "sanctions, prosecutions, asset seizures, extradition requests, and international law enforcement cooperation" that he said the Trump Administration is deploying "to dismantle criminal scam networks and impose costs on those who enable them." For victims — including the U.S. citizens who lost funds and children targeted by sextortion — visa restrictions represent an additional lever intended to disrupt transnational networks.
The announcement places visa policy alongside a suite of diplomatic, legal, and law-enforcement measures. It also raises immediate practical questions: how narrowly the State Department will define "responsible for, or complicit in, cybercrime," how broadly family members will be included, and how this visa tool will be coordinated with sanctions, extraditions, and criminal prosecutions already used against overseas fraudsters.
Read the original story: https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/07/24/uncle-sam-tells-overseas-cybercrooks-their-visas-are-canceled/5278212
