Myanmar junta says seized 30 Starlink receivers in scam centre raid

YANGON – Myanmar’s junta raided one of the country’s most notorious internet scam centres and seized Starlink devices, it said on Oct 20, after an AFP news agency investigation revealed a surge in their use in the multibillion-dollar illicit industry.

Internet sweatshops where workers scam unsuspecting foreigners with business or romance schemes have thrived in war-ravaged Myanmar’s lawless border regions since the coronavirus pandemic shut down casinos operating in the area.

A crackdown by the Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities starting in February saw thousands of suspected scammers repatriated, with experts saying some in the scam industry participate willingly, while others are forced to by organised criminal groups.

But an AFP investigation in October revealed rapid new construction at scam centre sites, and devices using the Elon Musk-owned satellite internet service Starlink being installed on their roofs.

State media Global New Light of Myanmar said the military “conducted operations in KK Park near (the) Myanmar-Thai border” and had “seized 30 sets of Starlink receivers and accessories”.

That number is only a fraction of the Starlink devices AFP identified using satellite imagery and drone photography.

On the roof of one building alone in KK Park, images showed nearly 80 of the internet dishes.

Starlink, which is not licensed in Myanmar, did not have enough traffic to make it onto the list of the country’s internet providers before the sweeping February crackdown.

But it topped the ranking every day from July 3 until Oct 1, according to data from the Asian regional internet registry, Apnic.

The US Congress Joint Economic Committee told AFP it has begun an investigation into Starlink’s involvement with the centres. While it can call Mr Musk to a hearing, it cannot compel him to testify.

Starlink parent company SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Oct 20.

Thriving scams

The Global New Light of Myanmar also said junta troops had occupied around 200 buildings and found nearly 2,200 workers at the site, while 15 “Chinese scammers” had been arrested for involvement in “online gambling, online fraud and other criminal activities” around KK Park.

South-east Asian scam operations conned people out of US$37 billion (S$47.9 billion) in 2023, according to a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

While Myanmar has emerged as a focal point of scam centres in South-east Asia, they have also flourished elsewhere in the region.

Last week, Cambodia

deported 64 South Koreans

detained for alleged involvement in cyberscams there, with most now facing arrest warrants back home.

Scam centres are a key part of Myanmar’s black-market economy, alongside drug production and mining, filling the war chests of factions fighting in the country’s civil war, which was sparked by a 2021 military coup.

The border region fraud factories are typically run by Chinese criminal syndicates, analysts say, often overseen by Myanmar militias given tacit backing by the Myanmar junta in return for guaranteeing security.

However, their allegiances have shifted as international pressure has been brought to bear.

China led the push on the authorities in Myanmar and Thailand to crack down on the centres in February after Chinese actor Wang Xing said he was lured to Thailand for a fake casting and trafficked into a scam centre in Myanmar.

Nonetheless, satellite images show what appear to be office and dormitory blocks shooting up in many of the estimated 27 scam centres located along a winding stretch of the Moei River on the Thai-Myanmar border.

While some scam workers are clearly trafficked into the centres, experts say others go voluntarily to secure huge pay packets.

Beijing said last week that it had arrested more than 57,000 Chinese nationals suspected of committing fraud in its crackdown on cross-border crimes in Myanmar. AFP