State Department Targets 'Scam Centers' in Asia
The Daily Signal • • world
Key Points:
- The U.S. State Department, alongside the FBI and Department of Justice, is intensifying efforts to dismantle Asia-based criminal networks defrauding American citizens, particularly targeting Chinese-led fraud syndicates in Southeast Asia.
- These transnational crime operations have grown to industrial scale, with the U.N. estimating 120,000 people working in scam centers in Burma and at least 300,000 trafficked into cyber scam operations across Southeast Asia.
- In 2024, such scam centers reportedly defrauded Americans of over $10 billion, prompting coordinated crackdowns and Treasury Department sanctions against targets in Myanmar and Cambodia.
- These fraud operations not only harm American financial security but also involve human trafficking and forced labor, with many employees
