Starlink satellite internet has become a popular option for people who cannot otherwise access traditional internet like cable or fiber. It has also been a key tool for crime syndicates in Southeast Asia looking to scam Americans.
SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, recently cut access to 2,500 Starlink satellites being used in notorious scam centers in Myanmar, the company said on Oct. 21.
The news comes a week after a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) revealed that the Musk-led company is currently under investigation by Congress’s Joint Economic Committee for its role in the scam centers.
“On the rare occasion we identify a violation, we take appropriate action, including working with law enforcement agencies around the world,” said Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX’s vice president of business operations for Starlink, in a post on X.
According to the Treasury Department, Americans lost more than $10 billion in 2024 to Southeast Asia-based scam operations, notorious for romance scams known as “pig-butchering.” By some estimates, these syndicates take in as much as $64 billion a year.
“The border region fraud factories are typically run by Chinese criminal syndicates, analysts say, often overseen by Myanmar militias given tacit backing by the Myanmar junta in return for guaranteeing security,” the AFP article says.
In February, a sweeping crackdown led by China freed as many as 7,000 scam-workers, who the AFP suspects are prisoners, from the Myanmar compounds. At the same time, Thailand cut power and internet services powering the scam centers in neighboring Myanmar. Soon after, the scam centers used thousands of Starlink satellites to fill that void.
According to the Asian regional internet registry, APNIC, Starlink did not have enough traffic in Myanmar to even make the list of the country’s internet providers before February. But after Thailand cut off other services, it quickly rose to the top. The APNIC data shows that it was the most used internet provider in the country every day from July 3 until Oct. 1.
This apparently got the attention of Congress. The AFP reports that the Joint Economic Committee opened an investigation into Starlink’s use in Myanmar’s scam centers in July.
“SpaceX has a responsibility to acknowledge any role that Starlink has played in facilitating scams emanating from Southeast Asia, and to block these criminals from using the service to target Americans,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, in a statement.
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