Central committee holds inaugural meeting on combatting telecom fraud and online gambling

The Central Supervisory Committee on Combat­ting Telecom Fraud and Online Gambling 1/2025 meeting was held yesterday afternoon at the Areindama Hall of the Myan­mar Police Force Headquarters in Nay Pyi Taw and was attended by Central Committee Chairman and Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Tun Tun Naung, First Vice-Chairman and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Than Swe, central committee members, and the secretary and joint secretaries, while the chief ministers of the regions and states, as well as the command­ers of the military commands, who are also members of the central committee, attended online.

 

The central committee chairman stated that the Central Supervisory Committee on Com­batting Telecom Fraud and On­line Gambling was formed on 10 December 2025 by Order 52/2025 of the Office of the National De­fence and Security Council as a supervisory body serving as the main focal point for eradicating online fraud in border areas, pre­venting its spread to the interior, and effectively eliminating online fraud and gambling in line with the policy of the Head of State, and that the Union Territory Committee and the Region or State Committees on Combat­ting Telecom Fraud and Online Gambling will continue to be formed.

 

He explained that Myanmar is planning to establish a Nation­al Anti-Scam Centre in the 2026- 2027 financial year, and that the Cybersecurity Law, enacted on 1 January 2025 and in force since 30 July, together with the estab­lishment of the Central Super­visory Committee on Combat­ting Telecom Fraud and Online Gambling, positions the country to implement its activities as a comprehensive organization.

 

The main responsibilities of the central committee are to for­mulate national-level strategies, policies, and procedures for com­batting online scams, coordinate activities among the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Central Bank of Myanmar, the Financial Intelligence Unit, and other relevant organizations, sys­tematically allocate and manage the necessary manpower, tech­nology, and funds for anti-fraud activities, collect, scrutinize, analyze, and disseminate infor­mation on international and do­mestic online fraud networks to relevant organizations, lead the investigation and prosecution of fraud perpetrators and scam centres in accordance with the law, combat cross-border fraud in cooperation with regional and international organizations such as INTERPOL and ASEANAP­OL, seize and control funds and assets obtained from fraud, and provide timely education to the public on various forms of on­line scams, associated risks, and preventive measures. The central committee will also im­plement the following processes: accepting complaints from fraud victims and directing relevant departments to assist, working with mobile operators and in­ternet service providers to block telephone numbers, websites, and accounts used for fraud, de­veloping and coordinating plans to rescue citizens and foreigners who are forced to work or are trapped in scam centres, collab­orating with international organ­izations and embassies to safely repatriate rescued individuals to their respective countries, and leading effective legal action against fraud leaders involved in human trafficking and forced labour.

 

Action was taken against those illegally entering Myan­mar, including those involved in telecom fraud and online gam­bling. From 5 October 2023 to 10 December 2025, 70,016 foreigners were identified in Shan and Kay­in states and were transferred back to their respective coun­tries in line with procedures.

 

According to the testimonies of foreigners who were rescued in Kayin State, they entered Thai­land by air and travelled from Bangkok to Mae Sot by car or plane, then illegally crossed the Thaungyin River from Mae Sot to join companies in Myawady Township, Kayin State, others arrived at Yangon Internation­al Airport in Myanmar with a valid visa and travelled by car to Myawady Township to join companies there. In percentage terms, 99.6 per cent crossed from Mae Sot, while 0.4 per cent trav­elled through domestic routes. Although the relevant embas­sies have requested assistance by claiming that their citizens are victims of human traffick­ing, investigations revealed that some of them are not trafficking victims and are working for their own benefit.

 

The central committee chairman emphasized that these crimes should be regarded as a multi-sectoral business rather than one confined to Myanmar, noting that Myanmar is neither the source nor the primary beneficiary despite being the location of the scam centres, that not all trafficking victims are Myanmar citizens, that not all proceeds enter Myanmar’s banking system, and that under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime each country bears responsibil­ity for combatting all relevant elements and must fully play its role in accordance with interna­tional crime-prevention stand­ards to address the problem. He said Myanmar has been able to locate and rescue victims of human trafficking from conflict areas and is actively cooperating with relevant embassies and or­ganizations to ensure their safe return to their home countries.

 

The State will demolish and close 100 per cent of the buildings in the border areas to prevent the resurgence of telecom fraud and online gambling, and it has been found that the necessary building materials, appliances, consumer goods, electricity, fuel, internet services, and other supplies for the buildings con­structed in these areas are being purchased and used through a bordering country.

 

He also stated that the per­sonnel needed to operate scam centres are obtained through hu­man trafficking via illegal border routes, that illegal border trade creates money-laundering chan­nels for the scam centres and provides transportation routes for trafficked persons, and that breaking these links requires a coordinated approach combining anti-money laundering, border security, and anti-human traf­ficking measures.

 

Central Committee First Vice-Chairman and Union Min­ister for Foreign Affairs U Than Swe stated that combatting tel­ecom fraud and online gambling is a national issue, that the online money fraud emerging along the Myanmar border constitutes an international crime and a source of domestic armed insurgency, and that it is being decisively ad­dressed. In some border areas of Myanmar where the rule of law is absent, international criminal gangs and ethnic armed organi­zations are collaborating, which can damage the country’s im­age, and such activities are being firmly suppressed. The search, rescue, arrest, and extradition of more than 70,000 foreigners from 54 countries involved in this business represents the largest extradition operation in the world. Since crimes related to online fraud and online gam­bling are international in nature, full international cooperation is required.

 

Afterwards, the first vice-chairman and central com­mittee members presented and discussed measures to prevent and suppress telecom fraud, online gambling, and related crimes, after which the central committee chairman delivered a concluding speech and ad­journed the meeting. — MNA/TH