A U.S. senator on Monday asked SpaceX to stop transnational criminal groups in Southeast Asia from using its Starlink satellite internet service to carry out scams targeting Americans.
Senator Maggie Hassan said groups in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos are using Starlink to run illegal operations despite rules that allow SpaceX to cut access for fraud. In a letter to CEO Elon Musk, she said these networks are running “scam compounds” and defrauding Americans out of billions of dollars.
The U.S. Treasury’s financial crimes unit said criminal groups are using Starlink for internet access to carry out online fraud.
The United Nations has said these networks traffic people and force them to work in scam centers, often located near the Thai-Myanmar border.
Since February, Thailand has stopped power, internet, and fuel to five border areas, including Myawaddy, to disrupt these centers.
International concern over these operations has grown after a Chinese actor was kidnapped in Thailand and found across the border in Myanmar. Thai police later rescued him.
Most of the centers are linked to Chinese criminal networks, according to the United States Institute of Peace.
