A powerful bipartisan US Congressional committee said it had launched an investigation into whether Elon Musk's Starlink satellite business was involved in providing internet access to Myanmar Scam Centerswho is accused of defrauding victims around the world of billions.
The move comes after it was revealed that large numbers of Starlink dishes began appearing on the rooftops of scam centers in Myanmar around the time repression in February it was to destroy the centers, according to an investigation by Agence France-Presse.
Starlink came out of nowhere to become the war-torn country's largest internet service provider within three months, data from Asia's regional internet registry APNIC shows.
SpaceX, the owner of Starlink, did not respond to AFP requests for comment.
US Congress The Joint Economic Committee told the news agency it launched an investigation into Starlink's involvement in scam centers in July. The committee has the power to force Musk to testify before it.
China, Thailand and Myanmar have forced pro-junta Myanmar militias defending the centers to promise to “destroy” the compounds in February. They about 7,000 people were released – most Chinese citizens from a brutal call center-style system that the UN says is based on forced labor and human trafficking.
Many workers said they were beaten and forced to work overtime by scam bosses who target victims around the world via telephone, internet and social media.
Senator Maggie Hassan, the top Democrat on the US congressional committee, called on Musk to block the Starlink service from scam factories.
“While most people have likely noticed an increasing number of fraudulent messages, calls and emails, they may not be aware that transnational criminals halfway around the world can commit these scams using Starlink Internet access,” she said.
In July, the senator wrote a letter to Musk demanding answers to 11 questions about the role of Starlink.
Former California prosecutor Erin West, who now heads the Operation Shamrock group campaigning against the centers, said: “It's disgusting that an American company would allow this to happen.”
While still a cybercrime prosecutor, she warned Starlink in July 2024 that mostly Chinese crime syndicates running the centers were using its technology, but received no response.
Americans are among the top targets of Southeast Asian scammers, the U.S. Treasury Department said, losing about $10 billion last year, up 66% in 12 months.
Globally, up to 120,000 people could be “forced into online fraud.” Myanmar centers, according to the UN report for 2023.
On the Thailand-Myanmar border, new buildings are springing up at a rapid pace inside the heavily guarded compounds around Myawaddy, some adorned with Starlink receivers, satellite imagery and AFP drone footage.
An analysis of satellite imagery by Planet Labs PBC found that dozens of buildings were being built or rebuilt at the largest of the KK Park complexes between March and September.
