US sanctions online scam centers in southeast Asia

ISTANBUL

The US on Monday imposed sanctions on online scam operations in Southeast Asia that caused Americans to lose at least $10 billion in 2024.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on nine targets involved in operations at the Shwe Kokko fraud center in Myanmar, which it says operates under the protection of the Karen National Army (KNA), an ethnic militia in southeastern Myanmar.

Additionally, OFAC imposed sanctions on four individuals and six entities operating forced labor camps in Cambodia. The US alleged that workers in these camps are forced to commit cryptocurrency investment fraud targeting victims in the US, Europe, China, and other countries.

"Criminal actors across Southeast Asia have increasingly exploited the vulnerabilities of Americans online," Rubio said, noting the sanctions protect Americans from "industrial-scale fraud, forced labor, physical and sexual abuse."

"Southeast Asia's cyber scam industry not only threatens the well-being and financial security of Americans, but also subjects thousands of people to modern slavery," said John K. Hurley, under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US Treasury Department, emphasizing the broader impact of the scam organizations.

The designations build on previous actions, including May sanctions against the KNA as a transnational criminal organization and its leader Saw Chit Thu and his sons for facilitating cyber scams, human trafficking and cross-border smuggling.

All property and interests of sanctioned individuals in the US or controlled by US persons are now blocked. Entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons are also sanctioned.

Americans lost at least $10 billion in 2024 to Southeast Asia-based fraud operations, according to US estimates, a figure that represents a 66% increase over the previous year.