WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has implemented sanctions against large network of scam centers across Southeast Asia that steal billions of dollars from Americans using forced labor and violence.
OFAC imposed sanctions on nine targets operating in Shwe Kokko in Myanmar, a notorious hub for virtual currency investment scams under the protection of the OFAC-designated Karen National Army (KNA), as well as ten targets based in Cambodia.
The KNA is a transnational criminal organization that facilitates online scam operations that target Americans and exploit workers in forced labor.
OFAC sanctioned four individuals and six entities for their roles operating forced labor compounds in Cambodia, where workers are forced to carry out virtual currency investment scams against victims in the United States, Europe, China, and elsewhere.
Criminal actors across Southeast Asia have increasingly exploited the vulnerabilities of Americans online. In 2024, Americans lost at least $10 billion to scam operations in Southeast Asia, according to a U.S. government estimate.
The Department of the Treasury said Southeast Asia-based criminal organizations often recruit individuals to work in scam centers under false pretenses. Using debt bondage, violence, and the threat of forced prostitution, the scam operators coerce individuals to scam strangers online using messaging apps or by sending text messages directly to a potential victim's phone, it said in a press release.
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