In August, China, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar formed a joint police operations center to tackle cyber scams in Southeast Asia. The organization aimed to disable cyber scam operations that routinely duped young Chinese citizens into working as scammers in Cambodia or Myanmar, and generally discouraged Chinese from traveling throughout the region. On October 23, China’s Ministry of Public Security reported that it exfiltrated 2,349 scam suspects from northern Myanmar to China.

The scam operations in countries such as Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia are usually run by Chinese bosses cooperating with local elites. Numerous regions in northern Myanmar are controlled by rebel groups without oversight from Myanmar’s military government. Some of these border areas have previously harbored criminal organizations. Monday’s announcement was preceded by a similar action on October 10, when 2,317 suspects were returned to China through a joint operation with Myanmar authorities. Experts consider many of the over 4,000 suspects as victims of malicious recruiting or extortion, and it remains unclear how they will be treated in Chinese custody. China’s Ministry of Public Security asserted the operations produced “breakthrough results,” but regional experts remain skeptical of their lasting impact.

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https://apnews.com/article/china-southeast-asia-cyberscam-criminal-myanmar-4d749243cd4c95d697060d8cef59cabb