SpaceX Disables Over 2,500 Starlink Terminals at Myanmar Scam Centers Amid Growing Southeast Asian Cyber Fraud Crisis

SpaceX Cuts Starlink Service To Over 2,500 Devices At Myanmar Scam Centres

The online scam industry has experienced significant growth throughout Southeast Asia in recent years.

On October 22, a SpaceX executive announced that the company had terminated service to more than 2,500 Starlink internet devices operating at Myanmar scam centers, following an AFP investigation that revealed widespread use of these terminals in illicit operations.

Extensive compounds where internet fraudsters target foreigners with romance and business scams have flourished along Myanmar's poorly regulated border areas during the ongoing civil conflict.

A highly publicized crackdown initiated in February resulted in the repatriation of approximately 7,000 workers and prompted Thailand to implement a cross-border internet blockade.

However, an AFP investigation earlier this month uncovered that construction of these facilities has continued steadily, with Starlink receivers being installed extensively to connect these hubs to Elon Musk's satellite internet network.

Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX's vice-president of Starlink business operations, stated that the company "disabled over 2,500 Starlink Kits in the vicinity of suspected 'scam centers'" in Myanmar, though her statement on X did not specify when the terminals were disconnected.

According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report, the online scam industry across Southeast Asia defrauded victims of up to $37 billion in 2023 alone.

Last week, Cambodia deported 64 South Koreans accused of connections to scam networks, with police seeking arrest warrants for most upon their return.

Thailand's deputy finance minister Vorapak Tanyawong resigned on Wednesday following allegations linking him to Cambodia-based cyberscam operations.

The border regions of Myanmar with Thailand and China have become particularly fertile ground for these fraud operations, where some workers are trafficked or lured, while others join voluntarily.

According to the Asian regional internet registry APNIC, Starlink did not register as a significant internet provider in Myanmar before February but ranked first every day from July 3 until October 1.

At the end of September, APNIC decided to gradually remove data related to Starlink in 20 countries, including Myanmar, after detecting anomalies, due to concerns about possible overestimation of the satellite internet service provider's usage levels.

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

Sources indicated that raids were continuing on Wednesday, with an AFP reporter observing more than 1,000 people fleeing northward from the site on foot, motorcycles, and crowded pickup trucks.

One employee leaving KK Park, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, reported: "Around 10:00 am Myanmar military soldiers in four trucks arrived at our site," adding that "Workers are leaving in chaos."

Experts suggest that Myanmar's military typically overlooks these scam centers, which generate profits for its militia allies in the region—crucial partners in the civil conflict.

However, the junta has faced increasing pressure from China, its military backer, to shut down these operations due to concerns about Chinese citizens both participating in and being targeted by these scams.

The military junta claimed to have seized only 30 Starlink terminals during recent raids—a small fraction of the thousands that independent analysts have documented at KK Park.

Nathan Ruser, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, suggested the Myanmar military is attempting a "balancing act" to satisfy both China and its aligned militias by "tokenistically" taking action "while actually not doing anything substantial."

By Wednesday evening, a resident of Mae Sot, just across the Thai border, reported that KK Park appeared largely abandoned, noting: "Usually at this time in the evening it is lit up brightly. Today I only see some lights. I don't see the lights on in the dormitory buildings."

Erin West, a former US cybercrime prosecutor who now campaigns full-time against scam centers, characterized the potential closure of KK Park as merely "a drop in the ocean," stating: "If there is a crackdown at KK Park, this is a small portion of what's happening at KK Park. And KK Park is a small portion of the number of compounds in the world that are doing this dirty business."