A Democratic senator on Monday called on SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to take action to prevent transnational criminal groups in Southeast Asia from exploiting the company’s Starlink satellite internet service to perpetrate fraud against Americans.
Senator Maggie Hassan referred to recent reports indicating that Starlink has been used by a range of transnational criminal networks operating “scam compounds” across Southeast Asia to defraud U.S. citizens. She noted that the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) estimated these groups have stolen billions of dollars from Americans.
“Scam networks in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos appear to continue using Starlink despite the service’s terms, which allow SpaceX to terminate access in cases of fraudulent activity,” Hassan wrote.
