SpaceX says it has disabled more than 2,000 Starlink devices connected to scam compounds in Myanmar after politicians and others called on the company to crack down on scammers using its kits for fast satellite internet.
Lauren Dreyer, the vice-president of Starlink’s business operations, said in a post on X Tuesday night that the company “proactively identified and disabled over 2,500 Starlink Kits in the vicinity of suspected ‘scam centers’” in Myanmar. She cited the takedowns as an example of how the company takes action when it identifies a violation of its policies, “including working with law enforcement agencies around the world.”
It was unclear when the devices were taken offline. SpaceX did not immediately respond to questions.
Advocates fighting against human trafficking have accused the company for months of facilitating scamming operations by failing to crack down on Starlink’s use for cybercrime. A Wired review of cellphone connection data earlier this year found the technology was being used in at least eight compounds near the Thai border. In February, the Thai government cut off electricity and internet access to a handful of compounds across the border in an attempt to restrict criminals’ access to the tools needed to conduct scams.
Starlink reportedly filled the void, however, leading a Thai politician to tweet at Elon Musk asking him to address the matter.
In July, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) also called on Musk and SpaceX to crack down on their illicit use.
“SpaceX has a responsibility to acknowledge any role that Starlink has played in facilitating scams emanating from Southeast Asia, and to block these criminals from using the service to target Americans,” she wrote.
Dreyer’s post publicizing the Starlink takedowns followed an announcement on Monday by the Myanmar government that it had shut down a large scamming operation on the border with Thailand and had seized dozens of Starlink devices. Authorities detained more than 2,000 people in the raid on KK Park, a notorious cybercrime complex on the edge of Myawaddy.
Myanmar has recently experienced a handful of high-profile raids at scam compounds which have garnered headlines and resulted in the arrest, and in some cases release, of thousands of workers. A crackdown earlier this year at another center near Mandalay resulted in the rescue of 7,000 people. Nonetheless, construction is booming within the compounds around Mandalay, even after raids, Agence France-Presse reported last week.
Following a China-led crackdown on scam hubs in the Kokang region in 2023, a Chinese court in September sentenced 11 members of the Ming crime family to death for running operations.
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James Reddick
has worked as a journalist around the world, including in Lebanon and in Cambodia, where he was Deputy Managing Editor of The Phnom Penh Post. He is also a radio and podcast producer for outlets like Snap Judgment.
