US Government Imposes Sanctions on Cyber Scam Centers in Southeast Asia

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Sep 10, 2025 - 09:54 Updated: Sep 10, 2025 - 09:48
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US Government Imposes Sanctions on Cyber Scam Centers in Southeast Asia

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The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on 19 individuals and entities for their alleged roles in an extensive network of scam centers in Burma (Myanmar) and Cambodia.

“Criminal actors across Southeast Asia have increasingly exploited the vulnerabilities of Americans online. In 2024, Americans lost at least $10 billion to scam operations in Southeast Asia, according to a U.S. government estimate,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Sept. 8 statement.
That figure marked a 66 percent increase from 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement announcing details of the sanctions.

“These sanctions protect Americans from the pervasive threat of online scam operations by disrupting the ability of criminal networks to perpetuate industrial-scale fraud, forced labor, physical and sexual abuse, and theft of Americans’ hard-earned savings,” Rubio added.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against nine targets operating in Burma’s Shwe Kokko, a place it described as a “notorious hub for virtual currency investment scams under the protection of the OFAC-designated Karen National Army (KNA).”

In May, the OFAC designated the Burmese militia group KNA as a “transnational criminal organization.” It sanctioned the group—along with its leader, Saw Chit Thu, and his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit—for their involvement in “facilitating cyber scams that harm U.S. citizens, human trafficking, and cross-border smuggling.”

The nine targets were Tin Win, Saw Min Min Oo, Chit Linn Myaing Co., Chit Linn Myaing Toyota Company Limited, Chit Linn Myaing Mining & Industry Company Limited, Shwe Myint Thaung Yinn Industry & Manufacturing Company Limited, She Zhijiang, Yatai International Holdings Group Limited, and Myanmar Yatai International Holding Group Co., according to the Treasury.

She Zhijiang and Saw Chit Thu transformed a small village in Shwe Kokko into a “prominent compound of scam centers” called Yatai New City, which became notorious for “gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution, and scams targeting people around the world, particularly Americans,” according to the Treasury.

Saw Chit Thu’s two subordinates—Tin Win and Saw Min Min Oo—controlled the property that hosts the scam centers, the Treasury said.

OFAC also sanctioned four individuals and six entities for their involvement in forced labor compounds in Cambodia that carry out virtual currency investment scams against victims in the United States, Europe, China, and elsewhere.

The Treasury said many of the scam centers in Cambodia were “built as casinos by Chinese criminal actors but became hubs for virtual currency investment scams when that activity proved to be more profitable.”

The 10 sanctioned in connection with the scams in Cambodia were T C Capital Co., K B Hotel Co., K B X Investment Co., Heng He Bavet Property Co., M D S Heng He Investment Co., HH Bank Cambodia, Dong Lecheng, Xu Aimin, Chen Al Len, and Su Liangsheng.

Dong, originally from China, was accused of investing in several real estate projects in Cambodia’s coastal city of Sihanoukville that have been linked to modern slavery and virtual currency scams, according to the Treasury.

Xu, also from China, cofounded K B Hotel in Sihanoukville, where enslaved workers are forced to carry out virtual currency scams, the Treasury added.

“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,” John K. Hurley, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Bessent’s leadership, Treasury will deploy the full weight of its tools to combat organized financial crime and protect Americans from the extensive damage these scams can cause.”

In a July report, the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission stated that Chinese criminals behind scam centers across Southeast Asia have cultivated ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—some openly, others through covert means—by adopting patriotic rhetoric, supporting its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and spreading pro-CCP propaganda.

For instance, the report mentioned She Zhijiang’s promotion of his Yatai New City project as part of China’s BRI, with China’s state-run media Xinhua describing it as “a model for deep economic and cultural cooperation” between China and Burma.

“She Zhijiang’s Yatai New City Project illustrates how a known Chinese criminal obtained Chinese government support and resources to help build a development that now houses one of the largest clusters of scam centers in Southeast Asia,” the report reads.
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