In response to the frequent occurrences of online gambling and telecommunications fraud in the Thai-Myanmar border area, the governments of China, Thailand, and Myanmar have jointly launched a concentrated crackdown aimed at completely destroying this cross-border criminal network. Since February, the Thai government has implemented relatively strict measures of cutting off electricity, fuel, and internet at five key points along the Thai-Myanmar border, focusing on areas like Myawaddy in Myanmar where telecom fraud activities are concentrated, in order to curb the operations of fraud dens by cutting off their infrastructure supplies.
The Effectiveness of the Telecom Fraud Crackdown in Myawaddy
It can be said that these measures have achieved certain effects.
The China Center for International Big Data Research on Sustainable Development recently released satellite images through the media, showing that the nighttime brightness in some active telecom fraud areas along the Thai-Myanmar border has significantly decreased after the implementation of the "three cuts" measures. Comparisons of SDGSAT-1 satellite images show that the nighttime brightness in telecom fraud parks such as Asia City, Jinsi Tan, Huan Ya International, KK, and Dongfeng in the Myawaddy area has significantly decreased, with some parks even plunged into darkness.
According to statistics, the power supply in Asia City has decreased by fifty percent, Jinsi Tan Park by nearly ninety percent, Huan Ya International Park by more than ninety percent, and the overall decrease in multiple key park areas is about 90%.
On the other hand, some analysts believe that it is far from the time to cheer loudly, as the work of combating telecom fraud is arduous and long.
According to the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), during the operation, they captured some suspects involved in telecom fraud, "believing they are just low-level managers, some detainees are in poor physical condition, even mentally disturbed." During the crackdown, a considerable number of telecom fraud personnel "disappeared."
Also from the "Karen Border Guard Force," the armed group revealed that during the search of the telecom fraud parks near Myawaddy on February 25, many fleeing foreigners might include about ten Japanese, and another ten are unaccounted for. It is unclear whether these people are related to the criminal gangs or victims of human trafficking. The number of other "many fleeing foreigners" is still not precisely known.
New Situations Highlight! Personnel Stranded at the Border
As the telecom fraud crackdown in the Myawaddy area deepens, new problems gradually emerge. According to the report by the "Karen Border Guard Force," they rescued more than 7,000 foreigners from the Myawaddy fraud parks, mainly from China, but these people remained stranded in local temporary camps with harsh conditions.
It is understood that at the beginning of this month, about 600 Chinese employees were directly sent back to China by chartered flights accompanied by police. However, the pace of other released personnel entering Thailand seems to have stalled.
Due to the slow progress in repatriation coordination, these rescued individuals are forced to wait in the camps, where the environment is dirty and crowded, and sanitary conditions are extremely poor. Eyewitnesses at the scene said that hundreds of exhausted young people lay in the open-air detention center, suffering from the heat and mosquito harassment. They come from more than twenty countries and are eager to return to their own countries as soon as possible.
Some stranded personnel stated that the toilets and showers could not be used normally, and the environment was extremely harsh, "I hope I can contact my parents soon so I can leave." Another person mentioned that he now only gets two very simple meals a day, and 450 people share two toilets. "Now everyone is solving it wherever they can go to the toilet."
However, some Chinese detainees felt "very happy" to be released, looking forward to leaving this "hell" soon because "China is the safest."
The New Direction of Fraud is Also Concerning
While the telecom fraud crackdown in Myawaddy has achieved certain effects, the new trend of telecommunications fraud has also attracted widespread attention.
The Japanese Embassy in Myanmar issued a notice, warning Japanese citizens to be vigilant against online fraud targeting Japanese. These fraud activities are not limited to Chinese scams but also involve other languages such as Japanese.
The notice pointed out that recently, some Japanese citizens were lured to countries like Cambodia to work by acquaintances met through social media, and eventually were deceived into participating in online money laundering and fraud activities in Myawaddy, Myanmar. In the fraud camps, victims were forced to engage in fraud activities under continuous surveillance, and if they did not meet the specified performance targets, they would also suffer torture and abuse. These fraudsters not only use Japanese citizens for criminal activities but may also use Burmese or other nationals who speak Japanese to commit these crimes.
What is more worrying is that with the continuous development of technology, the methods of telecommunications fraud are also constantly upgrading and changing. In addition to traditional phone scams, online fraud, and the use of emerging media such as social media and short video platforms for fraud, as the "industry module" of telecom fraud crime is increasingly upgraded, the design of criminal tool software is becoming simpler and easier to use, involving more people in telecom fraud activities, further expanding the scale and impact of the crime. These new methods have stronger concealment and deception, causing greater losses and risks to the victims.
On the other hand, the channels for funds are intertwined and hidden, especially virtual currency "money laundering" has become the mainstream method. Telecom fraud criminals transfer the involved funds through "small amounts and multiple transactions," making it much more difficult to trace the funds, posing great challenges to the investigation and recovery of cases.
To address this new trend, governments and relevant institutions around the world are strengthening cooperation and information sharing to improve the efficiency and accuracy of combating telecommunications fraud. But the fight against telecom fraud remains arduous and long.
