Source: Africa Publicity
Myanmar’s military announced on Sunday, November 23, 2025 that it has arrested at least 1,600 foreigners in raids on a notorious internet scam hub.
According to the military, the hub was housing scammers who target internet users with romance and business scams worth tens of billions of dollars.
A report by AFP says sprawling fraud factories have mushroomed in war-torn Myanmar’s border regions, housing scammers who target internet users with romance and business cons worth tens of billions of dollars annually.
Another report by the Global New Light of Myanmar, a local media outlet, stated that at least 223 individuals accused of committing online fraud and gambling at Shwe Kokko were detained on Saturday, November 22, 2025 alone. Among the 223 persons are 100 Chinese nationals, the report.
The AFP reported that the scam hubs are mostly staffed by thousands of willing workers as well as people trafficked from abroad. It says the hubs have proliferated in Myanmar’s loosely governed borders since a 2021 coup sparked civil war in the country.
According to a UN report, scam victims in Southeast and East Asia alone were conned out of up to $37 billion in 2023, saying global losses were likely “much larger.”
