All articles tagged with #cyber scam
In 2025, Myanmar's border region of Kokang was the epicenter of a brutal and extensive cyber scam industry run by powerful crime families, which involved torture, trafficking, and illegal activities, leading to significant crackdowns by Chinese authorities who arrested and sentenced key figures, revealing a complex web of crime, politics, and regional instability.
A co-working space in Singapore was used as a front by a crime syndicate to launder money and facilitate online scams involving trafficked migrant workers, according to U.S. prosecutors.
SpaceX has disabled over 2,500 Starlink devices used by scam centers along Myanmar's border with Thailand, as part of efforts to combat cyber fraud linked to the military junta, which continues to operate extensive scam networks despite crackdowns. The move highlights ongoing issues with cybercrime in Myanmar, where scam centers exploit Starlink's internet services to facilitate illegal activities, and reflects broader international concerns about the role of technology in transnational crime.
SpaceX has disabled over 2,500 Starlink devices used by scam centers along Myanmar's border with Thailand, as part of efforts to combat cyber fraud networks operating in the region, which continue to thrive despite crackdowns and military raids. The scam centers, often involving forced labor and extensive use of Starlink for internet access, are a significant part of Myanmar's illicit activities, with ongoing concerns about their impact and the military's role in their operation.
South Korea has banned travel to parts of Cambodia due to a surge in kidnappings linked to cyber-scam centers, where victims are often forced into online fraud operations, with diplomatic efforts underway to address the crisis and sanctions imposed on a Cambodian criminal network.
Over 1,000 trafficking victims were rescued in separate operations in Southeast Asia, with 20 Indonesians freed from a cyber scam in Myanmar and 170 Indonesians rescued in the Philippines. The victims were promised high-paying jobs in Thailand but were instead forced to work for a fake cyber industry. The victims were from Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Nepal, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Myanmar, and the Philippines. The Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok will work with Thai authorities to repatriate the victims to Indonesia.