India Probes Myanmar Crypto Scam Compounds After Trafficking Allegations

Victims said they were later taken into Myanmar and forced to run online investment and cryptocurrency scams, including creating fake social media profiles to lure people into fraudulent investment schemes, according to the reports.

One family alleged that captors demanded Rs 8 lakh (about $9,300) to secure their relative's release, while state authorities said efforts to bring those trapped home are underway.

The reports have added to concerns over organised criminal networks operating from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and neighbouring countries. These groups allegedly recruit people through fake overseas job advertisements for positions in IT, customer support, digital marketing and data entry before confiscating their passports and forcing them into online fraud operations after they arrive in Southeast Asia, according to the reports.

The latest allegations come as governments increase action against cyber scam networks in the region. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Myanmar militia, its leader and senior members in May over allegations that they facilitated cyber scam syndicates, cryptocurrency-related fraud, human trafficking and cross-border smuggling, as previously reported by crypto.news.

U.S. victims lost more than $2 billion to cryptocurrency-related fraud in 2022 and more than $3.5 billion in 2023, according to the Treasury Department.

Myanmar's military published a draft Anti-Online Scam Bill in May proposing prison terms ranging from 10 years to life for people convicted of operating online scam centres or committing digital currency fraud. The draft legislation also allows capital punishment for operators who use violence, torture, unlawful detention or cruel treatment to force people into carrying out online scams.

The FBI has separately reported that cryptocurrency-related fraud caused $11.4 billion in losses in its latest Internet Crime Report, with more than half of all internet crime losses linked to crypto schemes. The agency said many of the networks behind those frauds operate from compounds across Southeast Asia.

India has conducted rescue operations in similar cases before. Earlier this year, more than 120 Indian nationals were repatriated from cyber scam centres in Myanmar, following additional rescue efforts carried out during the previous year.