Myanmar’s military has raided a major online scam operation near the border with Thailand, detaining more than 2,000 people and seizing dozens of Starlink satellite internet terminals, state media has reported.
According to a report in Monday’s Myanma Alinn newspaper, Myanmar’s army raided KK Park, a well-documented cybercrime centre, as part of operations starting in early September to suppress online fraud, illegal gambling, and cross-border cybercrime.
It published photos displaying seized Starlink equipment and soldiers said to be carrying out the raid, though it was unclear when exactly they were taken.
The army ascertained that more than 260 buildings were unregistered, and seized equipment, including 30 sets of Starlink satellite internet terminals, the newspaper reported. It said 2,198 individuals were detained, though it did not give their nationalities.
Myanmar is notorious for hosting scam operations responsible for defrauding people all over the world. These usually involve gaining victims’ confidence online with romantic ploys and bogus investment pitches.
The centres are infamous for recruiting workers from other countries under false pretences, promising them legitimate jobs and then holding them captive and forcing them to carry out criminal activities.
Scam operations were in the international spotlight last week when the United States and Britain enacted sanctions against the alleged organisers of a major Cambodian cyberscam gang, and its alleged ringleader was indicted by a federal court in New York.
KK Park is located on the outskirts of Myawaddy, a major trading town on the border with Thailand in Myanmar’s Kayin state. The area is only loosely under the control of Myanmar’s military government, and also falls under the influence of ethnic minority militias.
There have been previous crackdowns on cyberscam operations in Myanmar earlier this year and in 2023.
Pressure from China saw Thailand and Myanmar launch an operation in February in which they released thousands of trafficked people from scam compounds, working with the ethnic armed groups that rule Myanmar’s border areas. (AP/ The Guardian)