WASHINGTON – A U.S. Democratic senator has called on SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to take immediate action to prevent transnational criminal groups in Southeast Asia from using the company’s Starlink satellite internet service to defraud Americans.
Senator Maggie Hassan raised the alarm on July 28, citing reports that Starlink is being used by criminal organisations running scam compounds in countries including Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. These networks are allegedly using the high-speed satellite internet to facilitate large-scale fraud operations, targeting American citizens.
According to Hassan, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has reported that such groups have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars. Despite service policies allowing SpaceX to terminate accounts engaged in fraud, she said these groups appear to still be using Starlink with impunity.
“SpaceX has a responsibility to block criminals from using the service to target Americans,” Hassan wrote in a letter to Musk, which was reviewed by Reuters. SpaceX has not issued a public response to the request.
Criminal operations across Southeast Asia have trafficked thousands of individuals to work in online scam centers, many of which are located in lawless zones along the Thai-Myanmar border. Victims are often held against their will and forced to run cyber scams, according to the United Nations.
Hassan highlighted that while Americans have become accustomed to frequent scam messages and calls, many are unaware that “transnational criminals halfway across the world may be perpetrating these scams by using Starlink internet access.”
In recent months, Thailand has responded by cutting off electricity, internet, and fuel supplies to five Myanmar border areas, including Myawaddy, in an effort to disrupt the operations. These centers have been described as a growing regional security threat.
The issue drew further attention after Chinese actor Wang Xing was abducted in January upon arriving in Thailand. He was later rescued across the border in Myanmar by Thai police. U.S. officials and analysts have linked the scam networks to organized criminal groups based in China, who are believed to operate several of the compounds in the Myawaddy region.