China repatriates 900 from Myanmar scam centres
Myanmar's many-sided civil war – sparked by a 2021 coup – has enabled the rapid growth of lucrative internet fraud factories established in its loosely governed borderlands.
Many people have said they were trafficked into often heavily fortified scam compounds to target victims with romance or business scams on social media, luring them into making untraceable cryptocurrency payments.
Analysts say some are willing participants in the industry worth billions of dollars annually.
Thousands have been repatriated in recent months after a pressure campaign from neighbouring China.
China's Ministry of Public Security said Wednesday 920 more "Chinese fraud suspects" had been handed over at an eastern Myanmar border crossing with China's province of Yunnan in recent days.
They were arrested since March 24 in multiple rounds of raids carried out by Myanmar, the ministry said, adding that computers, mobile phones and bank cards were seized.
Images on Chinese state media showed some of the suspects being paraded before the cameras handcuffed and flanked by security forces.
"This follows the complete eradication of a large-scale telecom fraud park in northern Myanmar near our border," said a ministry statement.
The ministry said their joint efforts with Myanmar have "captured a total of more than 55,000 Chinese fraud suspects."
A spokesman for Myanmar's Border Guard Forces told AFP they "still have more than 1,000 people to transfer" home from the scam centres, without providing details of their nationalities.
High-profile cases of Chinese nationals trafficked into scam centres have spurred diplomatic action from Beijing – a key ally of the junta as well as some ethnic minority armed groups controlling parts of Myanmar.
However, many of those executing the online scams hail from elsewhere in Asia or from Africa, and are brought to Thailand before making illegal crossings to Myanmar.--AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
8 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Teen gunman wounds three in Times Square shooting: NYPD
NEW YORK: A 17-year-old opened fire and wounded three people in a shooting at New York City's Times Square early Saturday, the New York Police Department said. The shooting occurred around 1.20am (0520 GMT) following a dispute, an NYPD spokesperson told AFP. An 18-year-old woman's neck was grazed, while a 19-year-old man and a 65-year-old man's lower limbs were both injured. None of the injuries were life-threatening, police said. The three victims were taken to New York City's Bellevue Hospital, where they were determined to be in stable condition. "The perpetrator has been taken into police custody, and a firearm has been recovered," the spokesperson added. The suspect has not been formally charged. Saturday's shooting occurred on 44th Street and Seventh Avenue, an intersection in the middle of the city's heavily touristed theatre district. Late last month, a gunman shot four people and then killed himself in a Manhattan skyscraper.
Malaysiakini
9 hours ago
- Malaysiakini
Shop owner says was measuring pole, flag accidentally upside down
A Penang hardware shop owner explained that he was measuring the length of an iron pole while hanging the national flag and did not notice that the flag was upside down. Chinese-language daily Kwong Wah reported that the owner, Feng Jin Zhen, said the incident occurred between 9am and 10am today, while he was preparing to hang the flag up. He said that during the process...
The Sun
9 hours ago
- The Sun
Chinese tech financier released after probe: former colleague
BEIJING: Chinese tech financier Bao Fan has been released by Chinese authorities after vanishing from public view over two years ago while 'cooperating' with an investigation, a former colleague told AFP Saturday. Bao was a key player in the emergence of some of China's biggest tech giants, supervising blockbuster IPOs and the landmark 2015 merger between ride-hailing giant Didi and its top competitor at the time, Kuaidi Dache. He disappeared in February 2023 as authorities launched a crackdown that saw a number of prominent Chinese financiers placed under investigation. In February last year his investment bank, China Renaissance, said he had stepped down as head. His former colleague, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he remained in contact with Bao's investment bank and could confirm he had been released, as first reported Friday in financial outlet Caixin. Bao was known for his close ties with the country's top tech bosses, and was seen as a celebrity in venture capital circles. His disappearance -- and China Renaissance's subsequent announcement that he was 'cooperating in an investigation being carried out by certain authorities' -- sent shockwaves throughout the financial services industry. Chinese authorities never formally announced the scope of the investigation. Beijing has since extended an olive branch to the country's private sector. In February, President Xi Jinping met with prominent business leaders including Alibaba's Jack Ma, Tencent's Pony Ma and Xiaomi's Lei Jun. A few months later, China introduced a law dedicated to promoting the private sector - AFP
