Crime syndicates in Myanmar expand fraud factories using Starlink despite global crackdown

BEIJING: Following a coordinated major crackdown by China, Thailand, and Myanmar in the first months of 2025, it appeared that the infamous scam activity compounds — where thousands of people were kidnapped and involuntarily had to engage in online sham operations — had been demolished.

But new satellite images and drone footage tell a very different story. Not only are these scam centres alive and well — they’re expanding. Fast.

In the border town of Myawaddy, near Thailand, construction is booming once again inside fortified compounds. New buildings, new roads, and a startling number of Starlink satellite dishes now dot the rooftops. In one compound alone — KK Park — AFP counted nearly 80 of them.

Despite being unlicensed in Myanmar, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service has quietly become the top internet provider in the country — giving a powerful new lifeline to cybercrime networks that prey on victims worldwide.

A crackdown, a rebound, and a new internet lifeline

Back in February, thousands of scam workers — many of them trafficked from across Asia and Africa — were released in coordinated raids. Their stories shocked the world: 20-hour workdays, brutal beatings, and threats of torture if they didn’t carry out online scams targeting victims from the US, China, Europe, and beyond.

From bogus crypto investment schemes to romance swindling, the operations exhausted billions from trustful individuals all over the world.

But by spring, new satellite imagery showed the compounds were rebuilding — bigger and more fortified than before. By October, they were booming again.

And at the heart of their resurgence? Starlink.

Starlink’s quiet role in a criminal revival

Starlink isn’t officially allowed to operate in Myanmar. Yet by July, it had become the country’s leading internet provider, according to data from the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC). That kind of high-speed, low-latency internet has supercharged the scam networks’ capabilities.

In July 2024, US prosecutors warned SpaceX that its network was being hijacked by organised crime groups. They never got a response.

Now, a US Congressional committee is investigating.

“It is abhorrent that an American company is enabling this to happen,” said Erin West, a former cybercrime prosecutor who now works to expose online fraud rings.

A multibillion-dollar scam industry

The numbers are staggering. Americans lost $10 billion to Southeast Asian online scams in 2024 — a 66% increase from the previous year, according to the U.S. Treasury.

The United Nations says $37 billion was stolen through scams across the Asia-Pacific in 2023 alone.

Victims are often lured through dating apps, fake job ads, and investment platforms — and fall into long-term scams that can wipe out life savings. Behind the scenes, trafficked workers are being bought and sold between compounds, often under threat of violence.

One rescued Chinese victim, known only as Sun, said he was locked up, beaten, and forced to defraud people for months. “We were treated like machines,” he told AFP. “If you didn’t make money, you were punished.”

The crime cities along the border

The epicentre of this criminal resurgence lies along the Moei River, where Myanmar meets Thailand.

KK Park, the largest of the compounds, has grown into what looks like a mini-city — complete with new roads, ferry terminals, and checkpoints. Just downriver is Shwe Kokko, another compound under the protection of the Karen National Army, a militia with ties to Myanmar’s military junta.

Both areas have been sanctioned by the US, but construction continues.

One of the key players behind this web of scam cities is She Zhijiang, a Chinese businessman-turned-fugitive who built the infamous Yatai New City. Though he’s under international pressure, his empire is showing signs of life again.

War, corruption, and technology

Myanmar’s civil war has created the perfect environment for crime syndicates to thrive. The country is fractured. Militias and traffickers operate freely. And the Golden Triangle — where Myanmar, Thailand, China, and Laos converge — has long been a hotbed for illicit trade.

Now, it’s ground zero for digital scams.

Many workers are trafficked. Others come willingly, lured by promises of fast money and luxury. What they find is often slavery, wrapped in tech.

The global challenge

These compounds have evolved from shady call centres to billion-dollar operations — complete with advanced infrastructure, transnational networks, and now, world-class internet.

Despite sanctions, arrests, and high-profile crackdowns, Myanmar’s cybercrime syndicates are back in business.

And they’re thriving.

The world responded once. The question now is: will it again?