A man who pimped a woman after luring her to the area with a modeling job was sentenced to six years in state prison, according to court records. Christopher Lee Card, 40, pleaded no contest to pimping the woman and was formally sentenced in October, court records show. Card was given about four years worth of credit for time he spent behind bars while the case was pending, including time credits for good behavior.
Hundreds of thousands of workers-hailing from over 50 countries-are currently trapped within Southeast Asia's sprawling scam centers, according to estimates by the United Nations. But humanitarian experts think these workers may soon be replaced by artificial intelligence. In some scam centers, messages initiating contact between scammers and potential victims are already being crafted and sent by AI, says Ling Li, a researcher and co-author of Scam: Inside Southeast Asia's Cybercrime Compounds.
In a statement posted on X, SpaceX's senior vice president of commercial business, Lauren Dreyer, said the company had "proactively identified and disabled over 2,500 Starlink Kits in the vicinity of suspected scam centers" in Myanmar. She added that SpaceX "complies with local laws in all 150+ markets where Starlink is licensed to operate" and takes "appropriate action" when it detects violations of its acceptable use policy or applicable law.
Myanmar's military have closed down an online scamming operation, detaining more than 2000 people, according to state media on Monday. During the raid, which took place near the border with Thailand, dozens of Starlink satellite internet terminals were also seized. Myanmar is notorious for hosting cyberscam operations which have been responsible for taking money from people all over the world through scams which usually involve gaining victims' confidence online with romantic ploys or other ruses.
Mahin Shahriar, 28, who came to Canada from Bangladesh in 2019, told the Canadian Press he accepted an invitation from a friend to visit a property near Montreal, which he now suspects was part of a broader human trafficking operation. He says the alleged property was in a rural area and when he couldn't find it, he called the acquaintance for directions. Then I found myself in the US, he said. It was not my intention. Shahriar approached immigration officials when he realized his mistake and was subsequently detained.
Authorities have seized $15bn (11.3bn) worth of bitcoin and a string of luxury London properties in a joint UK-US crackdown on criminal masterminds behind romance scam centres in south-east Asia. The bitcoin confiscated by US investigators is the largest seizure in the history of the Department of Justice. A multi-million mansion and office block in the City of London are among 19 UK properties also being seized as the two governments issue sanctions on a gang that runs such scam centres on an industrial scale.
At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lee said protecting the lives and safety of citizens is the government's greatest responsibility and called for all scam victims to be swiftly repatriated. The number of kidnappings of South Koreans in Cambodia has soared in recent months, prompting national security adviser Wi Sung-lac to form an emergency task force for the swift repatriation of citizens affected by scams.
The judge, Mr Justice Sheldon, halted his removal after a decision came through during the court hearing that his claims to be a victim of trafficking required further investigation. The ruling is a significant blow to the government because many of those due to be removed under the scheme are potential victims of trafficking. Because they have only recently arrived in the UK they have not had an opportunity to have their trafficking claim fully investigated nor to obtain expert medical and psychological reports.
The UN issued an official warning on Thursday that transnational organised crime networks have infiltrated East Timor's Special Administrative Region of Oecusse Ambeno through foreign investment schemes. list of 4 itemsend of list Oecusse is an enclave of East Timor that lies entirely within Indonesian territory and is bordered by the Savu Sea. The government established a digital free trade zone there in December 2024, but a law enforcement raid in August points to emerging scam centre activity, according to the UNODC.
Southeast Asia's cyber scam industry not only threatens the well-being and financial security of Americans, but also subjects thousands of people to modern slavery, undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K Hurley said in a statement, adding that Americans last year lost more than $10bn from scam operations originating in the region. The department said it had issued sanctions against Tin Win, Saw Min Min Oo and Chit Linn Myaing Co for acting
Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have in recent years become havens for transnational crime syndicates running scam centres such as KK Park, which use enslaved workers to run complex online fraud and scamming schemes that generate huge profits. For them, money is more important than human life Trafficking victim There have been some attempts to crack down on the centres and rescue the workers, who can be subjected to torture and trapped inside.
