Myanmar raids fraud center, arrests nearly 1,600 foreigners

(CLO) On November 23, Myanmar said nearly 1,600 foreigners were arrested in a major crackdown on the country's online fraud hub.

Myanmar's military said on Sunday it had arrested nearly 1,600 foreign nationals in five days as part of a major crackdown on a notorious online fraud hub near the Thai border.

Scam center in Shwe Kokko, Myanmar. Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0

For years, scams have proliferated in the war-torn border region of Myanmar, where gangs exploit internet users to make tens of billions of dollars a year in illegal profits.

Myanmar's military government began openly carrying out repression activities since February this year, after facing strong pressure from the international community, especially neighboring China.

According to the latest figures, Myanmar's military government said it arrested "1,590 foreign nationals who entered Myanmar illegally" between November 18 and 22 in raids at the Shwe Kokko gambling and fraud center, according to state news agency The Global New Light of Myanmar.

The newspaper also said authorities seized 2,893 computers, 21,750 mobile phones, 101 Starlink satellite receivers, 21 routers and many other industrial materials used for online fraud and gambling.

According to Global New Light of Myanmar, on Saturday alone, 223 people accused of committing fraud and online gambling in Shwe Kokko were arrested, including 100 Chinese citizens.

Local media released video showing a road roller crushing hundreds of computer monitors lined up next to piles of smashed mobile phones in the Shwe Kokko complex.

A United Nations report said that in Southeast and East Asia alone, victims were defrauded out of a total of $37 billion in 2023, while warning that the global losses could be “much larger”.

Source: https://congluan.vn/myanmar-dot-kich-trung-tam-lua-dao-bat-giu-gan-1-600-nguoi-nuoc-ngoai-10318948.html