SpaceX says ‘disabled’ 2,500 Starlink devices at Myanmar scam centres

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Yangon (AFP) – SpaceX has stopped service to more than 2,500 Starlink internet devices at rogue centers in Myanmar, a company executive said on Wednesday, after AFP reported their use had surged in the illicit industry.

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Vast complexes have flourished along Myanmar's loosely regulated border during the civil war sparked by the 2021 coup, where internet scammers target foreigners with romance and business scams.

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A widely publicized crackdown that began in February has led to the repatriation of about 7,000 workers and Thailand has imposed a cross-border internet blockade.

But an AFP investigation this month found that construction continues apace, with Starlink receivers being installed en masse, apparently to connect hubs to Elon Musk's satellite internet network.

SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Business Operations Lauren Dreyer said the company has “taken more than 2,500 Starlink kits out of service near suspected 'rogue centers'” in Myanmar.

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Her post on X does not say when the terminals were disabled.

The online scam industry is booming across Southeast Asia, with victims of scams receiving an estimated $37 billion annually in 2023, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

This weekend, Cambodia deported 64 South Koreans accused of links to fraud networks, and police have sought arrest warrants for most of them upon their return.

Thailand's Deputy Finance Minister Worapak Thanyavong resigned on Wednesday following allegations of his links to Cambodia-based cyber fraud networks.

Myanmar's border regions with Thailand and China have become particularly fertile ground for fraud factories, where some workers are lured or sold, while others leave voluntarily.

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– “Leaving into chaos” –

Myanmar's junta said this week it had raided KK Park, one of the country's most notorious scam centers, and seized Starlink terminals.

Local residents said raids continued on Wednesday, with an AFP reporter seeing more than 1,000 people traveling north from the scene on foot, on motorcycles and crammed into pickup trucks.

“At about 10:00 a.m., Myanmar troops arrived at our facility in four trucks,” said one of the employees leaving K.K. Park, who declined to give his name for security reasons.

“The workers are leaving in chaos,” he added. “Our company did not organize anything.”

Experts say Myanmar's military is turning a blind eye to rogue centers that benefit its militia allies in the region, which play a crucial role in the civil war.

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But the junta has also faced pressure to stop the scam from its military patron China, irritated by the number of its citizens who are participating in and being targeted by the scam.

Just 30 Starlink terminals were seized this week, according to the junta, a fraction of the thousands that independent analysts have recorded at KK Park.

Nathan Ruser, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said Myanmar's military was trying to find a “balance” to please both China and militias linked to the junta – “symbolically” taking action “without actually doing anything.”

But as night fell on Wednesday, a resident of Mae Sot, near the Thai border, said KK Park looked almost deserted.

“Usually at this time of the evening it is brightly lit,” they told AFP, speaking anonymously for security reasons.

“Today I only see a few lights along the fence and a few buildings. I don't see any lights in the dorms.”

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