Poker Writer
The Myanmar junta government continued its crackdown on online scammers by detaining 346 foreigners and confiscating nearly 10,000 mobile phones in a raid on so-called scam city Shwe Kokko, the state media announced.
Only a couple of weeks after rumors suggested that Myanmar authorities shut down and razed the infamous scam city of KK Park, those same authorities have turned their attention to a nearby town. Shwe Kokko was the location of the alleged scam compound. It lies just 16 miles north of KK Park, also on the border with Thailand.
The raid on Shwe Kokko was a success from the authorities’ perspective. They apprehended 346, many of whom were attempting to flee across the Thai border.
Reportedly, as much as $40 billion in annual profits flow from the various scam-based towns in Southeast Asia.
The operations described frequently involve tricking online contacts into investing money in fraudulent schemes. Many of the workers on the ground floor of the scams have also been lured from foreign countries by false promises of lucrative jobs. Some have escaped and described being tortured, beaten, and forced to work the scams.
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Myanmar Crackdown Motivation
The crackdown from Myanmar started in September after allowing the scam centers to flourish for a long time.
It is part of a wider conflict within the country based on ethnic militias clashing. The ethnic Karen militias claim that their enemy, the Karen National Union (KNU), is linked to the scam centers. Meanwhile, the Border Guard Force has been accused of sheltering the scam centers in the past, despite their recent claims of cracking down on them.
Even as the government proclaimed a major win in destroying KK Park, international skepticism swirled about the true motivations behind the raid. Some claimed that the authorities staged the KK Park raid as a public relations move.
An international expert called the move “political theater.”
With a second raid on a well-known scam compound, authorities hope they can more credibly claim a serious effort to stop the scams.
Pressure from Western governments may also play a role. On Nov. 12, the United States Department of Justice announced the creation of a “scam center strike force.” It specifically aims to stop fraud emanating from Southeast Asia.
“The lasting impact from the highly sophisticated, transnational financial crimes emanating from scam centers can be devastating to victims and their families,” said FBI Criminal Division Deputy Assistant Director Gregory Heeb. “It is the FBI’s job to stop these criminals, and with the help of our partners around the globe, we will do just that.”
The DOJ’s press release said the strike force has already seized more than $400 million in stolen cryptocurrency from scammers.
History of Shwe Kokko
Construction of Shwe Kokko began in 2017 and has been off-limits to casual visitors for years. According to a BBC report from earlier this year, it takes three days to travel to the small town from Myanmar’s major city of Yangon.
Some citizens of the town denied that scams took place in the city. Billboards in Chinese, Burmese, and English around the city proclaimed that any “online business” is not allowed.
However, BBC reporting suggests the practice continued behind closed doors and in hushed circles. Photos from the BBC story showed barred windows in many office high-rises. Reporters weren’t allowed to enter many of the buildings or interview many of the individuals in town.
The reported kingpin of Shwe Kokko, She Zhijiang, was extradited to China last week. Thai authorities have had him detained since 2022. His extradition signaled the deepening relationship between China and Thailand ever since the new, gambling-unfriendly Thai government took over.
Image credit: Angshu2193/Wikimedia Commons (license)
