Over the weekend, we covered the increasing phenomenon of “wrong number” scam texts — messages that seem accidental yet frequently develop into intricate cryptocurrency scams. Simultaneously, drivers across the United States have been bombarded with phony E-ZPass toll scam texts. Now, recent insights unveil the sources of these misleading operations.
On Monday, May 5, the U.S. Treasury Department declared sanctions against Myanmar warlord Saw Chit Thu and his two sons, alleging their involvement in extensive cyber fraud and human trafficking activities. Officials report that Saw Chit Thu and his group, the Karen National Army (KNA), are running billion-dollar cryptocurrency scams that take advantage of forced labor and mainly target American citizens.
“The KNA profits from cyber scam operations on an industrial scale by renting land it governs to other organized crime syndicates, and providing assistance for human trafficking, smuggling, and the distribution of utilities utilized to facilitate scam activities,” the Treasury Department disclosed.
In the year 2023 alone, American losses to scams of this nature are estimated to have reached $3.5 billion, as per Treasury statistics.
Saw Chit Thu heads the KNA, a militia situated in Myanmar’s Kayin State that governs areas within a so-called “Special Economic Zone” near the Thai border. In this zone, the organization has leased land and provided protection to transnational crime groups running “scam compounds” — fortified structures where trafficked individuals are coerced into conducting online fraud.
These compounds mainly concentrate on cryptocurrency scams. Fraudsters entice victims by presenting a luxurious lifestyle and prompting them to invest in fraudulent crypto and trading platforms. Victims are shown false returns to establish trust, only to be coerced into investing additional funds — until the scammers disappear with the money.
As a result of the sanctions, any U.S.-based assets belonging to Saw Chit Thu or his sons will be frozen, and American individuals and businesses are now barred from conducting transactions with them. The United Kingdom and the European Union previously enacted similar sanctions.
Additionally, the Treasury announced impending sanctions against a Cambodia-based network suspected of laundering money for North Korean cybercriminals. This group is also reportedly linked to pig-butchering scams and other deceptive practices across Southeast Asia, according to Bloomberg.
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