US Sanctions Cyber Scam Networks in Myanmar and Cambodia

The United States has imposed sanctions on cyber scam operators in Myanmar and Cambodia, targeting an industry the US states stole tens of billions of US dollars from Americans last year. This action, taken on Tuesday, according to a Treasury Department statement, aims to disrupt criminal networks.

Criminal groups have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people into Southeast Asian scam compounds, particularly along the Thai-Myanmar border. These individuals are forced into debt bondage and compelled to defraud strangers online.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley stated in the Treasury Department statement that Southeast Asia's cyber scam industry not only threatens the well-being and financial security of Americans, but also subjects thousands of people to modern slavery.

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The scams involve money laundering, illegal gambling, and persuading victims to make fraudulent investments. Operators are frequently foreigners trafficked and coerced into working in these scam compounds.

Sanctioned entities include nine companies and individuals located in Shwe Kokko, a town in Karen State situated on the Thai border. The US sanctions intend to cut off funding to these criminal networks.

These networks have thrived in regions controlled by both militias and Myanmar's junta. In Shwe Kokko, operators lured individuals globally with deceptive offers.

The Treasury Department reported that these people were then confined, mistreated, and coerced into conducting online fraud for criminal networks. Coercion tactics often included debt bondage, violence, and threats of forced prostitution.

The department also sanctioned 10 entities in Cambodia, where centres run by Chinese criminal networks focused on digital currency fraud. Amnesty International described some compounds in Cambodia as resembling prisons, accusing the country of ignoring the industry; these allegations Cambodia denies.

Cyber scam centres have expanded rapidly in Myanmar since a 2021 military coup. They spread from militia-controlled areas into regions under junta control, an Australian Strategic Policy Institute report found.

Shwe Kokko was established in 2017 by the Hong Kong-registered Yatai International Holdings Group and the Karen National Army, an armed group allied with Myanmar's military, according to the United States Institute of Peace. The Yatai group is sanctioned, and the KNA has been previously sanctioned.

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• The United States sanctioned cyber scam operators in Myanmar and Cambodia.

• The scams have stolen tens of billions of US dollars from Americans.

• Hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked and coerced into modern slavery within these operations.

Source: REUTERS