Scam centers in Myanmar
Scam centers in Myanmar
Major scam center buildings in Shwe Kokko, Myanmar.
Foundedc. 1990s
Years active1990s/2000s–present[1][2]
TerritoryMyanmar, specifically near Chinese and Thai border
ActivitiesOrganized crime, including cybercrime, online fraud, human trafficking, child labour, forced labor
AlliesOther scam centers in Southeast Asia

Scam centers are large compounds of fraud and criminal activities which are often disguised as business parks or towns around the country. In Myanmar, they are usually located in border towns near Thailand, especially around Myawaddy-Mae Sot and Shwe Kokko.[3][4][5]

According to the 2023 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report, an estimated 120,000 people across Myanmar were held in situations where they are forced to work on online scams.[6][7] The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that these activities bring in nearly US$40 billion a year for criminal gangs.[8]

History

According to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the origins of the scam operations in the Myanmar region date back to loosely regulated casinos and online gambling ventures in the 1990s. These early gambling hubs along the borders became infrastructure for later fraud operations. The operations gathered pace in the 2000s as internet connectivity improved and criminal networks began shifting from gambling profits to online fraud schemes.[1]

Around 2017, the most notable scam center in Shwe Kokko was registered by the Hong Kong-based Yatai International Holdings Group and local armed group partners.[2] The centers shifted from gambling to intensive scam hubs especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The site began to be repurposed for online scamming, money-laundering, crypto fraud and related activities.[9][10]

Following the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, the country's civil war created fertile conditions for organized crime, leading to the scam centers becoming hubs for cyber scam and fraud operations.[4][11] Due to the civil war, local armed groups, militias and border forces sometimes reportedly tolerated scam operations in exchange for revenue or local control.[12]

Recruitment

The scam centers lure basic job-seekers with fake offers of high-paying, legitimate work in digital marketing, IT, customer support or cryptocurrency trading. For such recruitments advertisements are usually posted on social media platforms, job sites or messaging apps.[13][14] This led to many victims come from China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and beyond. They are then taken to scam compounds and pressured to work in fraud operations.[15] Once accepted, victims are often transported to border cities like Mae Sot (Thailand) and from there smuggled or guided into Myanmar scam compounds such as in Myawaddy, Shwe Kokko or others.[16][17]

Citizens and nationals from many countries were recruited to the scam centers with majority being from China. Other nationals included Ethiopia, Kenya, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Brazil, Nepal, Vietnam and Thailand.[18][17]

Locations

Scam centers in Myanmar is located in Myanmar
Laukkai
Laukkai
KK Park
KK Park
Shwe Koko
Shwe Koko
Mong La
Mong La
class=notpageimage|
Locations were frequently scam centers are held

The main hubs of the scam centers are mainly focused around the following regions below.[19]

  • Laukkai : Scam operations in Laukkai are mainly located around Myanmar's northern frontier which include other centres in Muse, Lashio, Mong La and Pangkham.[20] The region became a major cyber-scamming hub, run by Chinese syndicates after the 2021 military coup. The United Nations has termed Laukkai's evolution to scam centers as "scamdemic" where over 100,000 people, primarily Chinese nationals, were lured into the compounds, detained and compelled to carry out complex online fraud schemes aimed at victims around the globe. The Ming family, one of the most powerful clans based in Laukkai, ran large call-centre fraud networks, which in an estimation to generated over 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion+) in revenue.[21] The family patriarch Ming Xuechang reportedly killed himself, with other family members being handed over to the Chinese authorities.[22] Abuses and tortures such as beatings, restriction of movement, long working-hours, trafficking and explorations were common in the center.[23][24] In October 2023, a coalition of ethnic armed groups launched Operation 1027, taking over Laukkai which led to the scamming workers flee from the region with some being held captive. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army raised intentions to eliminate cyber-scamming in the territory.[25]
  • Myawaddy: The area is a frontier town in Kayin State. It became popular for establishing scam centers with mainly Chinese nationals being centrally involved as both operators and victims.[26] Since early 2025, more than 5,200 people have been extricated from Myawaddy scam facilities and over 3,500 have been repatriated through Thailand.[27]
  • Mong La : Forced online-fraud labor have occurred in around the region with victims including female being trafficked here and compelled to run cyber scams under criminal syndicates operating in the Golden Triangle.[28][29][30]

Abuses and violence

Victims are forced to work long hours for up to 17 hours a day to produce scams such as romance fraud, fake investment pitches, crypto scams and online gambling frauds.[31][32] Food was limited and poor and medical care was nonexistent. Victims were reportedly tortured physically with beatings and electric shocks when they refuse to work, miss targets or tried to escape.[33] Many nationals from Bangladesh,[34]Nepal[35] and Pakistan[36] were tortured among reported, including more from China, Brazil, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia,[37] India, Laos, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania. Beatings were done with PVC pipes, ropes, charging cables or sticks, which left serious bruises and injuries on the victims.[33] According to a man from India reported, 800 people were given to share only 10 toilets.[38]

People who were able to escape reported psychological distress such as fear, anxiety, nightmares and long-term trauma. Many victims were reported having suicidal thoughts and deep shame from being forced into illegal acts.[39]

Crackdown

In 2025, the Myanmar military launched multiple high-profile raids on scam sites. KK Park was raided and partially cleared, with thousands of workers freed and satellite terminals seized with more than 600 buildings being demolished and releasing 2000 people. In centers around Shwe Kokko, nearly 350 operators and workers were arrested.[40][41] Over 10,000 foreign nationals alleged to be involved were reportedly detained.[18]

International reactions and sanctions

On September 8, 2025, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 19 entities and individuals connected to cyber-scam centres in Shwe Kokko and surrounding areas of Myanmar for their roles in fraud, human trafficking and online scams that defrauded Americans and others worldwide.[42][43][44] In October 2025, the U.K. and U.S. governments coordinated sanctions on a transnational fraud network in Myanmar and elsewhere.[45]

China has been publicly criticizing and campaigned against scam centres in Myanmar. In reality, large amount of the proceeds of the centres benefit members of Chinese oligarchs, who played role in executing operators of the centres and even victims from the territory in order to silence them, even as many Chinese citizens have been trafficked in or targeted by scams.[46]Thailand has removed electricity flow and internet access to border regions housing scam centres.[47]

The Myanmar military announced raids on scam hubs mainly on KK Park and Shwe Kokko, framed as responses to external diplomatic pressure especially from China and the U.S.[48]

See also

References

  1. ^ ab"What are Southeast Asia's scam centres, and why are they being dismantled?". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2025-04-06. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  2. ^ ab"What to know about the South-east Asian scam centres set up at the Myanmar-Thai border". Malay Mail. 2025-03-06. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  3. ^"Revealed: the huge growth of Myanmar scam centres that may hold 100,000 trafficked people". The Guardian. 2025-09-07. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  4. ^ ab"Scam Centers 'Flooding Myawaddy Town' After Myanmar Junta Crackdown". The Irrawaddy. 2025-12-08. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  5. ^"Myanmar scam cities booming despite crackdown -- using Musk's Starlink". France 24. 2025-10-14. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  6. ^"Scam hubs on Thai-Myanmar border still have up to 100,000 people, Thai police says". bdnews24. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  7. ^"Scam centers in southeast Asia are on the rise despite crackdowns to root out the illegal industry". Archived from the original on 2025-11-07. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  8. ^"Myanmar state television broadcasts army crackdown on scam centers". AP News. 2025-11-24. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  9. ^Zaw, Aung (2025-11-27). "The Story of Shwe Kokko: How a Border Backwater Became a Global Crime Hub". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  10. ^Kapi, Saw (2025-01-28). "Shwe Kokko: How governance failures and political quagmire created Myanmar's most notorious crime hub". Myanmar Now. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  11. ^"Myanmar Junta's 'Raid' on KK Park Scam Hub a PR Stunt: Locals, Experts". The Irrawaddy. 2025-10-22. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  12. ^Peng, Xu (2025-12-24). "Huge online scam operations are flourishing in war-torn Myanmar – I travelled there to find out why". The Conversation. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  13. ^"Nearly 260 Workers Freed from Myanmar Scam Compounds Identified as…". International Justice Mission. 2025-02-21. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  14. ^"Thailand receives hundreds of human trafficking victims held at Myanmar scam centers - UPI.com". UPI. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  15. ^"Myanmar militia 'ready to return' more than 60 trafficked foreigners to Thailand". Radio Free Asia. 2025-01-30. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  16. ^"Chinese workers from Myanmar scam centers begin to fly home from Thailand". Benar News. 2025-02-20. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  17. ^ ab"Tens of thousands could be held in illegal scam compounds in Myanmar, Thai police general says". The Guardian. 2025-02-21. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  18. ^ ab"Myanmar detains over 10K foreigners in online scam centre crackdown".
  19. ^"Inside Southeast Asia's Casino Scam Archipelago". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  20. ^"Kyar Phyant Crackdown"(PDF).
  21. ^"Death sentences for 11 Ming clan members over Myanmar scam empire". nationthailand. 2025-09-30. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  22. ^"China sentences 11 members of Ming mafia family to death". BBC. 2025-09-29. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  23. ^"Chinese gangs kidnapping Burmese to work online scams from border towns". DVB. 2022-06-24. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  24. ^"Myanmar: Post-coup economic turmoil drives youth into Chinese-run cyber scams". Business and Human Rights Centre. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  25. ^Nu Nu Lusan; Emily Fishbein. "Under siege in Myanmar's cyber-scam capital". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  26. ^"Nearly 3,000 Chinese suspects brought back from Myanmar scam hubs, ministry says". South China Morning Post. 2025-03-15. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  27. ^"Scam hubs on Thai-Myanmar border still have up to 100,000 people, Thai police says". The Star. 2025-03-18. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  28. ^"Online scam operations and trafficking"(PDF). bangkok.ohchr.org.
  29. ^"Burma's Cyber Scam Centers: A Global Security Crisis, Now Targeting Americans". Mizzima.
  30. ^Charlie Campbell. "Inside Southeast Asia's Criminal Resurgence". TIME. Archived from the original on 2025-07-30. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  31. ^"How Chinese mafia are running a scam factory in Myanmar". DW. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  32. ^"Myanmar's 100K Scam Centers: Human Trafficking Crisis". Washington Centre. 2025-09-08. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  33. ^ abMyat, Su (2025-02-25). "Beatings, torture and electric shocks: freed scam compound workers allege horrific abuse". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  34. ^"18 Bangladeshis imprisoned, tortured in 'scam centres' in Myanmar to return home". The Business Standard. 2025-03-18. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  35. ^"47 Nepalis Rescued From Scam Centers in Myanmar Arrive in Kathmandu". OCCRP. Archived from the original on 2025-12-11. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  36. ^"Freed Scam Center Victims Tell of Torture by Karen Militia". The Irrawaddy. 2025-02-14. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  37. ^"Indonesia to question more than 500 citizens freed from Myanmar scam centres". Reuters.
  38. ^"They Were Forced To Scam Others Worldwide. Now Thousands Are Detained on the Myanmar Border". FRONTLINE. 9 March 2025. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  39. ^Erin Foley (2025-12-17). "The Christians Helping People Enslaved by Cybercrime Scam Centers". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  40. ^"KK园区：缅甸臭名昭著的网络诈骗中心被军政府攻占，背后涉华人黑帮". BBC News 中文 (in Simplified Chinese). 2025-10-21. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  41. ^"Myanmar junta says raided online scam centre, arrested over 300". The Star. 2025-11-19. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  42. ^"Treasury Sanctions Southeast Asian Networks Targeting Americans with Cyber Scams". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 2025-12-23. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  43. ^"U.S. Treasury Sanctions 19 Myanmar, Cambodia Entities for Forcing Trafficking Victims into Crypto Scams – Union of Arab Banks". Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  44. ^"US sanctions 8 in Myanmar, Thailand for online scams, forced labor". Asianet Newsable. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  45. ^"UK and US take joint action to disrupt major online fraud network". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  46. ^"China repatriates 900 from Myanmar scam centres". News24. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  47. ^"Sixty-one people rescued from Myanmar scam centres handed over to Thai authorities". The Online Citizen. 2025-02-07. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  48. ^"Myanmar military raids online scam hub, arrests nearly 350 on Thai border". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
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