Jason Tower on How China-Backed Scam Groups Threaten U.S. Interests
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The video features an interview with Jason Tower, a program director at the U.S. Institute of Peace, who discusses how Southeast Asia and specifically Myanmar have transformed into hubs for large-scale scam operations following the military coup in February 2021. Criminal groups have seized control of vast border regions between Myanmar and Thailand, establishing concentrated compounds where over 100,000 individuals engage in online fraud targeting a global audience with an increasing focus on American victims. These illicit networks are responsible for estimated global losses reaching approximately $64 billion, creating a severe economic threat that extends far beyond the region of origin.
The primary mechanism behind these scams involves cryptocurrency, which perpetrators use to make tracing stolen funds by law enforcement nearly impossible due to sophisticated fraudulent platforms and technical barriers. This technological complexity has led to devastating financial impacts on Americans across various demographics, from young people to senior citizens; for instance, a single banker in Kansas lost almost $50 million through such schemes while states like California, Florida, and Texas report mounting losses. The difficulty extends beyond the United States, as authorities in countries like Thailand and Singapore also struggle to track the flow of illicit funds once they leave these scam centers, highlighting a significant gap in international financial oversight.
Tower explains that many of these criminal syndicates originate from China but were pushed out by Chinese police into conflict-affected states like Myanmar after their initial operations primarily targeted Chinese nationals shifted focus toward Americans and other global citizens. Because the Chinese government has cracked down on domestic scamming, they now possess substantial intelligence regarding seized cell phones and operational details that could aid in prosecuting these crimes abroad. Consequently, experts argue for pushing China to hold its former affiliates accountable by sharing this critical data, drawing parallels between the scale of financial harm caused by scams and the global crisis posed by fentanyl trafficking.
To effectively combat this evolving threat, which is increasingly viewed as a major issue for national security, Tower advocates for a comprehensive whole-of-government approach that mobilizes Congress to protect constituents within their districts. This strategy requires closer collaboration between law enforcement agencies and policymakers to ensure criminals are held accountable through coordinated efforts rather than isolated actions. By integrating intelligence sharing with China, enhancing cross-border legal cooperation, and aligning legislative priorities with security needs, the United States can develop more robust mechanisms to seize illicit funds and dismantle these industrial-scale scam farms that exploit vulnerable populations worldwide.
Read the full video transcript
[Music]
the United States Institute of Peace
along with siriusxm's pus Channel 124
now present their weekly
podcast joining us now is Jason Tower
the county director for the Burma
program at the usip good morning Jason
I'm glad to have you here I want to get
right to the point where the limited
time we have Southeast Asia and
especially Myanmar have become hubs now
for industrial scale scam Farms what's
going
on yeah so really over the past couple
years especially since the uh the
Myanmar military coup that took place in
February of 2021 you've seen where
criminal groups have basically taken
over um vast parts of the Borderlands
the border between um Myanmar and
Thailand in particular and they've built
out this um very disturbing web of of
compounds where uh basically basally you
have over a 100,000 people in a very
concentrated area um that are
perpetrating online scamming targeting a
global population but increasingly
targeting Americans um so this problem
continues to get worse um and you've
seen over the past uh couple of weeks
that there was a new wave of of human
trafficking into the zones that has
triggered something of a Crackdown by by
law enforcement but it's estimated that
there's roughly $64 billion in in global
losses to um these forms of online
scamming that are concentrated in
Mainland southeast Asia oh my goodness
who's it's it's impacting I know
Americans young and old senior citizens
particularly vulnerable to these scams
as well cryptocurrency is often the
vehicle I understand for the scam making
tracing by law enforcement particularly
difficult if not
impossible that's right I mean you have
cases in the United States where one
single individual this was a banker from
Kansas lost almost $50 million us to
these very sophisticated forms of scams
and you're seeing where all across the
US particularly in States like
California states like uh Florida Texas
that um losses continue to to pile up uh
on on the part of Americans um the scams
are using uh cryptocurrency they're
using um uh basically a lot of
fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms that
are under the control of these uh scam
syndicates and really exploiting um a
lack of knowledge on the part of
Americans of these new types of
Technologies exploiting also the
difficulty that law enforcement has
tracing uh funds on cryptocurrency and
this is a problem both in the US but
also all around the region where um you
know law enforcement in countries like
uh Thailand and countries even like
Singapore have a lot of difficulty uh
tracing where these funds go once
they've been stolen how do you stop this
then I mean what how do who's who's
behind a some sort of method to try to
counteract this or protect
Americans well I think part of the
evolution of this is interesting because
these are crime group groups uh from
China that the Chinese police pushed out
of China into southeast Asia and they've
really taken over control of territories
in Conflict Afflicted States or weak
States like like Myanmar and so um the
perpetrators are actually coming from
from China and you've seen where the
Chinese government has cracked down on
them to an extent uh because previously
the scamming was largely targeting
Chinese Nationals now it's pivoting to
Target the rest of the world and
especially Target uh Americans but
because China's been involved in these
crack it has a lot of intelligence a lot
of information from different cell
phones that have been seized from the
scammers so I think one thing is is
really pushing China on this issue to
hold it accountable to force it to share
some of that information about losses to
Americans I mean this is something
that's being compared increasingly to
fentanyl in terms of the impacts on the
US and there's really an angle I think
to um push to get access to this
intelligence that would help us to um
really start uh going after some of the
purp trators and you know Finding ways
to to seize These funds I think also
what's really needed is a whole of
government approach to these issues
really looking at um you know how how
can you U mobilize um folks across the
Congress to start looking at how they
can keep people in their constituencies
uh safe how can you um get law
enforcement to work more closely with
policy makers on this to um hold those
criminals accountable so there's a lot
that can be done but this is
increasingly a major threat to um Global
and US National Security that's stemming
from these scam centers in places like
uh Myanmar this is so important to have
heard this information we appreciate it
so much we shall see how the whole of
government approach possibly Works in
this instance Jason Tower us IP thank
you for joining us today thanks for
having me
on this podcast has been brought to you
by the United States Institute of Peace
and Sirus xams pus Channel 124