The U.S. State Department said it has made combating the "fraud parks" in Asia a priority. The Trump administration mobilized the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the State Department to take action against transnational criminal networks that operate in Southeast Asia and specifically target American citizens. A State Department official said such crimes have reached "industrial-scale." According to the United Nations, about 120,000 people were working in fraud centers in Myanmar alone in 2023, and the number of people trafficked into online fraud in Southeast Asia may be as high as 300,000. U.S. officials said that related frauds stole over $10 billion from Americans in 2024. The Treasury previously imposed sanctions on several fraud hubs in Myanmar's Myaungmya and Cambodia, citing that they not only threaten the financial security of American citizens but also involve forced labor. The State Department said it is working with regional countries to strengthen law enforcement and reminded American citizens not to transfer money to people they have never met or to share personal information online carelessly to avoid falling into scams.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1858078278843402/
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