Fraud compounds in Myanmar accused of swindling Chinese and American victims out of billions of dollars are thriving despite an international crackdown, with new evidence showing that the operations have expanded and are now powered by Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service.
An investigation by Agence France-Presse (AFP) found that far from being dismantled, the so-called “scam cities” around Myawaddy, on the Thailand-Myanmar border, have grown rapidly.
Drone footage and satellite images show intense construction inside heavily guarded compounds — many now covered in Starlink dishes.
Experts said most of these centres, infamous for romance scams and “pig butchering” investment frauds, are run by Chinese-led crime syndicates in cooperation with militias loyal to Myanmar’s junta in the lawless Golden Triangle region.
Crackdown that failed
In February, authorities from China, Thailand, and Myanmar announced that they had “eradicated” the scam hubs, freeing about 7,000 trafficked workers. But AFP’s investigation found the industry not only survived — it rebounded.
A senior Thai police official estimated that as many as 100,000 people are still working inside the compounds — “mini cities surrounded by barbed wire fences and armed guards.”
Satellite data confirmed that new office and dormitory buildings were rising within weeks of the crackdown, while flocks of Starlink dishes appeared on the roofs of major compounds like KK Park, where nearly 80 dishes were counted on one building alone.
Starlink is not licensed to operate in Myanmar, yet according to the Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), it became the country’s top internet provider between July and October 2025.
U.S. investigation into Starlink’s role
California prosecutors warned SpaceX, which owns Starlink, in July 2024 that its satellite system was being used by online fraud syndicates. SpaceX did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment.
“It is abhorrent that an American company is enabling this to happen,” said Erin West, a former U.S. cybercrime prosecutor who now campaigns against online scams.
The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, on which Senator Maggie Hassan serves as a leading member, told AFP it has begun an investigation into Starlink’s involvement with the Myanmar scam centres.
The U.S. Treasury Department reported that Americans are among the top targets of these Southeast Asian crime rings, losing an estimated $10 billion in 2024 — a 66 percent increase in just one year.
Expanding under the radar
“The building boom since the crackdown is breathtaking,” West said. New construction can be seen across at least 27 scam centres stretching along the Moei River, which separates Thailand and Myanmar.
A new section of KK Park has been completed in just seven months, its security checkpoint enlarged and access roads expanded. Satellite imagery also shows five new ferry crossings connecting the Thai and Myanmar sides — including one servicing Shwe Kokko, a compound described by the U.S. Treasury as a “notorious hub for virtual currency investment scams.”
Last month, the U.S. sanctioned nine individuals and companies linked to Shwe Kokko and Chinese tycoon She Zhijiang, founder of the sprawling Yatai New City project. Despite the sanctions, construction there continues.
The Golden Triangle — where Myanmar, Thailand, China, and Laos meet — has long been a centre for drug trafficking, smuggling, and money laundering. Civil war in Myanmar and widespread corruption have now made it a breeding ground for organized online fraud.
Inside the compounds
AFP obtained testimony from Sun, a young man from China’s Yunnan province who was trafficked into several scam compounds before being freed earlier this year.
“Almost everyone inside had been beaten at some point… either for refusing to work or trying to get out,” he said. “There was no way to leave.”
Sun said he was abducted in Thailand and sold to a scam centre in Myawaddy for 650,000 Thai baht ($20,000). Workers were forced to follow detailed online scripts designed to manipulate victims, including one 25-page guide where scammers impersonated a “lovesick” woman named Abby to build emotional trust.
He described brutal punishments, confinement behind barbed-wire fences, and armed guards patrolling watchtowers. “I kept begging them on my knees to let me go,” he recalled.
Protected by militias
According to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), the scam compounds operate in a “highly permissive environment… with permission from junta-affiliated Burmese militia.”
“These syndicates have been given such a permanent, established infrastructure,” said Nathan Ruser, the report’s author. “It’s shocking — they can move construction materials, goods, and even people freely.”
The syndicates are protected by armed groups such as the Border Guard Forces (BGF) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) — both former rebel factions now allied with Myanmar’s military.
Endless cycle
While Beijing touts its recent executions of convicted fraudsters as proof of its resolve, experts say the effect is temporary.
“As long as the junta enables and fuels this industry, it’s only ever going to be a game of cat and mouse,” Ruser said. “New ones will simply pop up elsewhere.”
For survivors like Sun, freedom offers little relief. He said he never scammed anyone and is still under police supervision in China. “The mental burden is hard to bear,” he said quietly.
West, the U.S. cybercrime expert, warned that governments have been “insanely negligent” about the growing crisis.
“A generation’s worth of wealth is being stolen from us,” she said. “I don’t know how we shut this down. It is way too big now — like an enemy state.”
