Myanmar targets crypto fraud with life sentence bill

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Myanmar has published a parliamentary bill on May 14 aimed at combating fraud related to digital currencies and scam factories.

Myanmar’s Anti-Online Fraud Bill states that anyone convicted of “digital currency fraud” could face 10 years to life in prison and even the death penalty. The country’s parliament, known as the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, proposed this law in response to the increasing online fraud in Myanmar, which it claimed threatened its “sovereignty and stability.”

The law also outlined specific conditions under which the death penalty would be applied, particularly concerning the country’s scam centers. Anyone found responsible for the death of an individual who was coerced or exploited into committing online fraud would face the death penalty.

The draft law would also allow capital punishment for “violence, torture, unlawful arrest and detention, or cruel treatment against another person for the purpose of forcing them to commit online scams.”

Myanmar has become one of the world’s most notorious hubs for scam center operations targeting web users worldwide with romance and digital currency investment schemes. The multi-billion dollar black market attracts employees as well as repatriated foreigners who were reported to be trafficked to locations in the country and tortured by scam center operators.

The country’s military-backed parliament is next scheduled to sit in the first week of June.

Digital currency scam schemes worldwide

In January 2026, China reportedly executed 11 individuals linked to online scam centers in Myanmar, according to state media Xinhua. The crimes of the individuals range from “intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud, and casino establishment.” In recent years, Beijing has been in close cooperation with Thailand and Myanmar to crack down on the compounds and people related to such crimes.

The death sentences of the 11 people executed were approved by the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing, according to the report. Among them were members of the “Ming family criminal group,” whose activities have reportedly contributed to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to others.

In April, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and China’s Ministry of Public Security dismantled at least nine digital currency scam centers. They arrested 276 suspects in a major international crackdown targeting “pig butchering” investment fraud schemes.

The authorities said the scam networks used fake crypto investment platforms and social engineering tactics to steal millions from victims—most of which were mainly Americans. The operation highlights growing global cooperation against organized cybercrime and digital currency fraud.

“Fraudsters who target Americans from overseas cannot operate with impunity, no matter where in the world they reside,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Scam center organizers and fraudsters who defraud Americans and others will face justice in American courts and in courts around the world. In contemporary society, fraud is borderless, and law enforcement activity to combat it and eliminate it is as well.”

In 2024, a Chainalysis report titled “Crypto Scam Revenue” revealed $9.9 billion in losses from crypto scams. The analytics firm expects to identify more illicit acts in the 2024 figures and anticipates the figure will rise to $12.4 billion.

High-yield investment scams (HYIS) and pig-butchering scams remained the two most significant types of fraud in 2024, accounting for over 80% of all funds lost by victims. The most notable HYIS scam of 2024 was Smart Business Corp., a long-running Ponzi scheme that recently began incorporating digital assets. During the said year, it received $1.5 billion in digital currency, some of which was cashed out at well-known, though unnamed, mainstream exchanges.

More recently, in December 2025, Interpol created a resolution to address the increasing threat posed by transnational scam centers, adding “cryptocurrency scams” to the list of illicit activities carried out by such organizations.

“Often under the pretext of lucrative overseas jobs, victims are trafficked into compounds where they are forced to carry out illicit schemes such as voice phishing, romance scams, investment fraud and cryptocurrency scams targeting individuals worldwide,” said INTERPOL.

The resolution highlighted the increased use of “advanced technologies” by criminals to deceive victims and “mask their operations.” It also highlighted the “highly adaptive nature of these cross-border criminal networks,” which INTERPOL stated requires a coordinated global response.

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