Lynn / Thant Zin (NSS) - Oct 24

An unnamed source involved in scam control has informed The NSS that scammers who previously migrated from Myanmar to Laos are now re-entering along the Myanmar border.

Online scam activities have established a foothold in the border regions connecting Myanmar with China, Laos, and Thailand, engaging in financial fraud. Recent reports indicate that the Chinese government and the Myanmar government have worked together to combat these scams in the past.

Subsequently, some of these scammers fled to Laos. And then, due to an increase in arrests in that country, they have returned to Myanmar to continue their scam activities, according to the aforementioned source.

"Myanmar has become a central hub for scams. During times of civil war, instability, and widespread poverty, all the scammers have established bases in border areas, entering through the borders with Thailand, Laos, and China. Some are targeting India, while others focus on Myanmar or China. Recently, China pressured the Myanmar government to capture these scammers, leading to increased arrests, after which many fled to Laos. Now, they are returning to Myanmar," he reported.

The return of these scam operations to Myanmar is attributed to the ease of finding employees and the abundance of representatives available for these businesses, according to the source.

"Due to the current situation and absence of rule of law, these individuals are taking the opportunity to return and continue their activities. Most of the scams are concentrated in Shan State, and another area is Kayin State. In Yangon and Mandalay, their numbers are limited. They have established camps in those areas, providing hostel facilities and high salaries. Each employee is targeted for each person, and they also recruit software developers to create scam software. For regular software developers, they might offer around 700,000 kyats, but for those involved in scam software, they could offer around 7 million kyats. Some scam applications are quite basic, while larger scam operations tend to have more sophisticated applications," he added.

Additionally, on social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram, scam operations are openly recruiting young people from within the country by offering financial incentives. Some young individuals have a desire to work in these operations.

Currently, scammers are targeting the public, including both middle-income individuals and those at the grassroots level, employing various tactics to defraud them of amounts ranging from small sums to over a hundred thousand kyats.