Unfairly targeted: The truth behind Myanmar’s telecom fraud narrative
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Phyo Lin Aung (NP News) - Nov 17
In this world, poverty often becomes a reason for unfair judgment. “Simply being poor makes people want to look down on you, and you end up being blamed for things as well,” a local observer remarked. “On the global stage, once a country is poor, it is easily perceived as responsible for every bad act.”
This dynamic is now unfolding around Myanmar. Following the rise of large-scale telecom fraud in Southeast Asia, the country has been branded with a negative reputation—so severely that it is even facing travel restrictions due to these perceptions.
On November 12, the United States announced the formation of a special task force to combat online scam networks in Southeast Asia. The State Department said these fraud schemes have stolen billions of dollars from American citizens over the past five years.
The force includes personnel from the Department of Justice, the Secret Service, the State Department, the FBI, and other federal agencies.
Its primary focus: Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos
According to the statement, the task force will investigate, dismantle, and prosecute the criminal organizations and leaders behind these operations and impose sanctions, arrests, and criminal charges. It also aims to compensate victims and improve public awareness.
In a related move, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and four of its senior leaders for allegedly supporting scam centers in Myanmar that targeted Americans through fraudulent investment schemes.
Earlier in May 2025, the Karen National Army (KNA) was designated a Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO), and its leadership was sanctioned.
U.S. authorities estimate that American citizens collectively lost more than USD 10 billion to scams based in Southeast Asia in 2024—losses that many victims will never recover.
Global pressure falls on Myanmar—but unfairly
Despite heavy accusations from the U.S., China, and other countries, Myanmar is not the originator of these online scam networks.
In reality, developing countries including Myanmar, have become unwilling hosts to powerful foreign criminal syndicates that exploit weak governance, porous borders, and economic hardship.
China’s recent documentaries claim that the “four big families” in Myanmar’s Kokang Autonomous Region—the Ming, Bai, Wei, and Liu families—were behind scam operations. Many members have been arrested or sentenced, some to death. However, the accuracy of these claims remains unverified.
Critics note that Chinese authorities have imposed harsh sentences on Kokang residents—many of whom are ethnic Chinese but there is little evidence that Chinese nationals who orchestrated the scams have received similar penalties.
As one expert explained: “Only Myanmar citizens who leased land have been executed or heavily punished. There is no indication that the Chinese who actually carried out the crimes have been arrested or sentenced. China discusses the issue as if only its own citizens are victims, while Myanmar citizens suffer the harshest consequences.”
Myanmar lacks the capacity to operate scam network
Large-scale telecom fraud requires sophisticated technology, data systems, financial infrastructure, and cross-border coordination. Myanmar does not possess such capabilities.
A source familiar with the operations clarified that, “Among all 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar, there has never been anyone skilled enough to run these operations. Everything from the software to the financial system is Chinese. Myanmar’s only involvement is renting out land.”
“The truth is, in our country, we don’t have people with the level of technical expertise needed to write malware. Malware and spyware work like this: for example, I send you a link, you click it, and then I gain access to your phone. Another issue is how they manage to get enough SIM cards in Myanmar to make simultaneous calls to China using countless phones. And when they scam retired Chinese civil servants or veterans, where do they get the data needed to trick them? That’s the question. So, although they know these scams are happening earlier. But as long as China’s Great Firewall exists, why didn’t they crack down sooner? Why did they only start making arrests after 1027 operation?” a technology specialist analyzed.”
Foreign criminals drive the scam industry
A wide network of powerful figures is driving the online scam industry across the region, and all of them operate beyond Myanmar’s borders. Recent reports indicate that She Zhijiang—the alleged telecom fraud kingpin arrested by Thai authorities in 2022 and now extradited to China—played a major role through his company, Yatai International Holding Group, which heavily invested in casinos and online gambling operations in Myawaddy.
Other influential actors include Chinese businessman Zhao Wei, who was previously linked to Tu Hao’s “grey business” network and accused of involvement in KK Park, though his company has denied it. The criminal web extends further: the former Malaysian deputy minister and notorious 14K triad leader Wan Kuok-koi have been reported as partners in cyber scam ventures, including the creation of Dongmei Park in Myanmar with Malaysian investors through the Hong Kong–registered Dongmei Group.
In October 2025, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment against Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi of Prince Holding Group, accusing him of running forced-labor scam compounds in Cambodia. Even major names like Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and financial hubs such as Singapore appear as nodes within the broader ecosystem that enables these fraudulent networks. When examining the architects and financiers of these operations, one clear fact emerges: not a single Myanmar citizen stands among the leaders of the regional online scam machinery.
Myanmar’s role in the scam ecosystem is limited to geography—foreign groups operating inside its borders, often exploiting conflict zones or areas outside effective state control.
Myanmar government’s crackdown efforts
Following the recapture of the Mehtawthalay area in Myawaddy, the Myanmar government has intensified operations against online scam activities by dismantling the notorious KK Park compound. Authorities are identifying foreign nationals who illegally crossed into Myanmar, investigating their roles in online fraud, illegal gambling, and related crimes, and repatriating them to their respective countries in accordance with legal procedures.
Buildings used to house scam centers are now being demolished as part of a broader effort to eliminate the infrastructure that enabled such operations. These measures reflect Myanmar’s attempt to confront the problem, even as the country faces significant constraints and limited capacity.
The narrative that Myanmar is the primary center of online telecom fraud is misleading and incomplete. The true operators are transnational syndicates, backed by powerful foreign financiers and technologically advanced networks. Myanmar, with limited digital capacity and ongoing internal challenges, has become a convenient scapegoat.
Countries should investigate all parties involved—not just those operating on Myanmar soil. To blame Myanmar alone is not only inaccurate; it obscures the global financial and technological systems that enable these crimes. Myanmar should not be unfairly labeled or punished for an international criminal industry driven overwhelmingly by foreign actors. –