{"id":265848,"date":"2025-11-16T09:55:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T09:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/265848\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T09:55:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T09:55:12","slug":"doj-issued-seizure-warrant-to-starlink-over-satellite-internet-systems-used-at-scam-compound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/265848\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Issued Seizure Warrant to Starlink Over Satellite Internet Systems Used at Scam Compound"},"content":{"rendered":"

As scam compounds in Southeast Asia continue to rake in billions of dollars<\/a> in stolen funds from victims around the world, United States law enforcement aims to cut scammers off at the source by issuing seizure warrants for Starlink satellite internet terminals that provide cybercriminals with connectivity. Two US warrants and affidavits seen by WIRED detail how Starlink devices are allegedly being used by cybercriminals running scam compounds in Myanmar.<\/p>\n

One warrant, issued on Wednesday by US magistrate judge G. Michael Harvey, authorized the seizure of nine Starlink terminals and two Starlink accounts allegedly used in scam compounds in Payathonzu, near Three Pagodas Pass at the Myanmar-Thai border. A linked affidavit, written by FBI investigators, claims that the Starlink devices and accounts played a \u201csubstantial role\u201d in an alleged money laundering and wire fraud operation targeting US citizens\u2014saying Starlink parent company SpaceX should \u201cdisable service\u201d to the devices. It also claims that at least 26 Starlink dishes appeared to be on the roofs of several buildings making up one scam center of several in the Three Pagodas Pass area.<\/p>\n

The second warrant and affidavit\u2014which was not issued to Starlink but focused on seizing websites used in scamming\u2014also claims that \u201cat least\u201d 79 Starlink dishes appear on the roofs of buildings at the notorious Tai Chang compound in Myanmar, which US officials say is controlled by the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, an armed group in Myanmar that was sanctioned<\/a> by the US government this week. The warrant was signed on Monday by US magistrate judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh.<\/p>\n

Both sets of legal documents cite a WIRED investigation from earlier this year, which revealed that scam compounds in Myanmar have been using Starlink<\/a> for internet access. Starlink, which is owned and operated by Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX, is a high-speed satellite internet service available in more than 150 countries around the world.<\/p>\n

The action comes as part of a new US law enforcement initiative known as the District of Columbia Scam Center Strike Force that was announced<\/a> by the Justice Department, FBI, and Secret Service on Wednesday. The effort aims to combat cryptocurrency scams targeting Americans, specifically fraud that originates from an ecosystem of systematized scamming that has evolved in multiple Southeast Asian countries and is often linked to Chinese organized crime. The \u201cStrike Force\u201d is already operational, and the Justice Department says it has seized roughly $400 million in cryptocurrency so far that was stolen in scams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Justice will not stand by while Chinese organized crime victimizes Americans and bleeds dry the hard-earned investments of American citizens,\u201d Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a press conference. \u201cWe have seized websites being used by these compounds in Southeast Asia that are used to victimize Americans. We are seeking warrants to see satellite terminals and accounts being used by the perpetrators to connect to the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As scam compounds in Southeast Asia continue to rake in billions of dollars in stolen funds from victims…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[924,15313,995,13299,6815,90,1351,416,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-265848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-crime","9":"tag-cryptocurrency","10":"tag-elon-musk","11":"tag-justice-department","12":"tag-scams","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-security","15":"tag-space","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}