On Tuesday, October 21, SpaceX, the space exploration technology company owned by American billionaire Musk, announced that it had cut off the communication links of more than 2500 Starlink satellites being used by a fraudulent group in Myanmar.
It is believed that there are over thirty fraudulent groups operating along the Thai-Myanmar border, where people from around the world are trafficked and forced to engage in scam activities, yielding billions of dollars in fraudulent funds annually.
Lauren Dreyer, the operations manager of Starlink, confirmed the action and added that Starlink would take immediate action upon discovering any violations.
For a long time, these Myanmar-based phone scam operations controlled by Chinese criminal groups have been defrauding victims through false love and investment schemes, sometimes luring foreigners in under the guise of legitimate work. These victims are held captive, subjected to torture and beatings, and coerced into criminal activities.
Activists have long warned that the Starlink technology enables these phone scam operations to establish internet connections in remote border areas and carry out fraudulent activities.
Dreyer posted on social media platform X, stating, “We are committed to ensuring that the Starlink service remains a force for good and maintains trust globally: connecting the unconnected, while detecting and preventing abuse by bad actors.”
On Monday, the Myanmar military “cleansed” the largest online scam network in Myanmar, KK Park, which had been occupied by insurgent groups for the past two years, releasing over 2000 workers and confiscating 30 Starlink terminal devices.
Images show antennas on the roofs of the compound connected to satellites, and videos depict thousands of workers being allowed to exit KK Park on foot.
These phone scam operations have become an integral part of Myanmar’s wartime economy, with the military government battling various insurgent groups while relying on support from the Chinese Communist Party to maintain its power.