US reinforces Southeast Asian cyber scam hub clampdown

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced the creation of a strike force against Southeast Asian cyber scam hubs and sanctioned multiple Thai companies and a Myanmar armed group facilitating such compounds as part of intensified crackdown efforts on illicit cyber activity that has stolen at least $10 billion from Americans last year, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Investigation, disruption, and prosecution of major Southeast Asian scam centers and their leaders, particularly those in Burma, Cambodia, and Laos, will be prioritized by the Scam Center Strike Force, which will be composed of FBI, Justice Department, State Department, and Secret Service agents and lawyers, according to the Treasury. Meanwhile, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed punitive action on Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and its three leaders over human trafficking activities that facilitate the operations of scam compounds.

Also sanctioned were Trans Asia International Holding Group Thailand Company, Troth Star Company, and Thai national Chamu Sawang, who were allegedly involved in coordinating cyber scams with Myanmar and Chinese organized crime operations.