The Department of Justice issued a warrant to seize Starlink via satellite internet systems used in the Scam Compound
As fraud compounds As Southeast Asia continues to collect billions of dollars in stolen money from victims around the world, US law enforcement aims to cut off fraudsters at the source by ordering the seizure of Starlink satellite Internet terminals that communicate with cybercriminals. Two US warrants and affidavits seen by WIRED detail how Starlink devices are being used by cybercriminals operating fraud compounds in Myanmar.
A ruling issued Wednesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Michael Harvey authorized the seizure of nine Starlink terminals and two Starlink accounts allegedly used in fraudulent schemes in Payatunzo, near the Three Pagoda Crossing on the Myanmar-Thailand border. A related affidavit written by FBI investigators alleges that Starlink devices and accounts played a “significant role” in alleged money laundering and fraud operations through the network that targeted American citizens, and says that Starlink’s parent company SpaceX should “disable” the devices’ services. It also claims that there appear to be at least 26 Starlink containers on the roofs of several buildings that form a fraud center of several centers in the Three Pagodas Pass area.
A second warrant and affidavit — not issued for Starlink, but focused on seizing websites used in the scam — also alleges that “at least” 79 Starlink dishes appear on the roofs of buildings in Myanmar’s notorious Taichung complex, which US officials say was controlled by the Myanmar military this week by the Karen Democrats, a US government philanthropic group. The ruling was handed down on Monday by US District Judge Matthew J. Sharbag was signed.
Both sets of legal documents refer to a WIRED investigation earlier this year that found fraud syndicates in Myanmar were using Starlink to access the Internet. Owned and operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink is a high-speed satellite Internet service available in more than 150 countries worldwide.
The move is part of a new U.S. law enforcement initiative called the District of Columbia Fraud Center Task Force, which was announced Wednesday by the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Secret Service. The effort is aimed at combating cryptocurrency scams targeting Americans, particularly those stemming from the systematic fraud ecosystem that has evolved in several Southeast Asian countries and is often linked to Chinese organized crime. The “task force” is already operational, and the Justice Department says it has so far recovered nearly $400 million in cryptocurrency stolen in the scam.
“The Department of Justice will not stand by until Chinese organized crime victimizes Americans and drains American citizens of their hard-earned investments,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said at a press conference. We have seized websites used by these compounds in Southeast Asia to victimize Americans.
