SpaceX says it has cut Starlink services to Myanmar scam camps

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SpaceX says it has cut internet access to more than 2,500 Starlink terminals used by online scam operations in Myanmar, following reports that the company’s satellite network had become a crucial lifeline for the billion-dollar industry.

Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX’s vice-president for Starlink business operations, said on X that the company had “disabled over 2,500 Starlink kits in the vicinity of suspected scam centres” in Myanmar.

“We are committed to ensuring the service remains a force for good and sustains trust worldwide – both connecting the unconnected and detecting and preventing misuse by bad actors,” Ms Dreyer said.

The crackdown follows the Myanmar military’s raid this week on KK Park, one of the country’s most notorious scam compounds. The junta said more than 2,000 workers were released and around 30 Starlink terminals seized.

An earlier investigation by AFP news agency revealed a surge in the use of Starlink receivers across sprawling compounds along Myanmar’s border with Thailand, where criminal networks run online fraud schemes targeting victims worldwide.

Footage reported by BBC showed crowds of people leaving the KK Park compound on foot after the raid.

Witnesses told AFP that soldiers had arrived in military trucks on Wednesday morning, prompting chaotic evacuations.

The centres, run largely by Chinese crime syndicates, are known for forcing trafficked workers to run online romance and investment scams. Survivors have reported being beaten, tortured or held captive for failing to meet targets.

Such scam networks have become more widespread in Myanmar’s wartime economy, where the military has been fighting an array of rebel groups since seizing power.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimated the cyber-fraud industry in Southeast Asia defrauded victims of up to $37bn in 2023.

SpaceX’s Starlink network had previously been unregistered among Myanmar’s internet providers, but by July had become the country’s most active network, according to regional internet registry APNIC.

Myanmar’s military government has faced pressure from China, its main ally, to rein in scam compounds that target large numbers of Chinese citizens.

But analyst Nathan Ruser of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told AFP the junta was attempting a “balancing act”, taking limited action to appease Beijing while protecting militias that profit from the operations.

While KK Park’s lights were reported to be off by Wednesday night, observers said many similar centres remain active along the Thai–Myanmar border.