BANGKOK — BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar's military has disrupted a major online fraud operation near the border with Thailand, detaining more than 2,000 people and seizing dozens of Starlink satellite internet terminals, state media reported Monday.
Myanmar has a bad reputation for carrying out cyber fraud operations is responsible for deceiving people around the world. They typically involve gaining the trust of victims online through romantic ploys and bogus investment offers.
These centers are notorious for recruiting workers from other countries under false pretenses, promising them legitimate jobs, and then holding them captive and forcing them to engage in criminal activities.
Fraudulent transactions came into the international spotlight last week when the US and UK imposed sanctions against the organizers large Cambodian gang of cyber fraudstersand its supposed leader was indicted in federal court in New York.
The army raided KK Park, a well-documented cybercrime hub, as part of operations that began in early September to crack down on online fraud, illegal gambling and cross-border cybercrime, according to a report published in Myanma Alinn newspaper on Monday.
He posted photographs showing captured Starlink equipment and soldiers believed to have carried out the raid, although it is unclear exactly when they were taken.
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 partially under the control of the Myanmar military government and is also influenced by ethnic minority militias.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a military government spokesman, said in a statement late Monday that top leaders of the Karen National Union, an armed ethnic organization opposed to army rule, were involved in fraudulent projects in K.K. Park.
The previous charge was based on allegations that a company backed by the Karen group allowed land to be leased out. But the Karen, part of a larger armed resistance movement during Myanmar's civil war, deny any involvement in the scam.
Myanmar Alynn said the army had determined that more than 260 buildings were not registered and confiscated equipment, including 30 sets of Starlink satellite internet terminals. The department said 2,198 people were detained, but did not indicate their nationality.
Starlink is part of Elon Musk's SpaceX company, and the terminals are connected to its satellites. The company has no licensed operations in Myanmar, but at least hundreds of terminals have been smuggled into the Southeast Asian country.
The company could not be reached for comment Monday, but its policy prohibits “conduct that is defamatory, fraudulent, obscene or misleading.”
Myanmar has already cracked down on cyber fraud operations earlier this year and into 2023.
Facing pressure from China, the Thai and Myanmar governments launched an operation in February to free thousands of trafficked people from rogue complexes, working with ethnic armed groups that control Myanmar's border areas.
