Trending 
Myanmar has proposed capital punishment for individuals who violently coerce victims into working in online scam centres, while cyberscam operators could face life imprisonment.
In war-torn Myanmar, internet fraud networks thrive, targeting web users worldwide with romance and cryptocurrency investment cons. These cyberscam syndicates are part of Southeast Asia’s flourishing scam economy.
The multibillion-dollar illicit economy attracts many willing employees, but repatriated foreigners have also reported being trafficked to sites in Myanmar and tortured by scam centre operators.
The Southeast Asian country published a parliamentary bill on Thursday proposing the death sentence for syndicates that force people into working for them.
The draft legislation would 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”.
AFP reported that “Anti-Online Scam Bill” also includes a maximum sentence of life in prison for those who “run an online scam centre” and those who “commit digital currency scams (crypto scams)”.
The “Anti-Online Scam Bill” is the first piece of legislation introduced by the new government, headed by coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, who assumed the role of civilian president in April 2026.
It promises a new committee to cooperate with other countries to combat the illicit industry, another apparent invitation for foreign engagement with the new government.
Myanmar’s military-backed parliament, which many analysts describe as a rubber-stamp legislature, is scheduled to meet again in the first week of June.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that victims of cyber scams in the US were scammed out of more than $20 billion through such schemes in 2025.
Cyberscams have ramped up tensions with neighbouring China, which has become irked at the number of its citizens finding scam centres, working in them and falling victim to them, according to analysts.
