US ‘Strike Force’ targets cyber scams in Myanmar
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the establishment of a Scam Center Strike Force on Wednesday to crack down on cryptocurrency-related scams based in Burma, Cambodia, and Laos that target Americans. It has seized and forfeited $401 million USD in crypto currency, according to the Nov. 12 statement. The Strike Force Burma team has conducted operations against two scam centers so far.
“Scam centers are creating a generational wealth transfer from Main Street America into the pockets of Chinese organized crime,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said in the statement. Kyo Dolan, assistant director of the Secret Service, stated the agency has observed a surge in cryptocurrency investment scams since 2019, with nearly 3,000 victims reaching out to it so far this year.
The statement added that the Strike Force has deployed FBI agents to Bangkok to work with the Thai police to combat scam compounds, such as the Chinese-backed KK Park in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township, located along the Burma-Thailand border 81 miles (130 km) east of the state capital Hpa-An. The regime Ministry of Information stated on Nov. 9 that it had demolished a total of 101 buildings inside KK Park.
Sanctions against Democratic Karen Benevolent Army
The U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control has also imposed financial sanctions on a pro-regime ethnic armed group on Wednesday. The Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), which is based in Karen State along the Burma-Thailand border, is sanctioned for operating a cyber scam operation in territory under its control that targeted Americans.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked by criminal gangs across Southeast Asia in recent years and forced to work in scam centers, with at least 120,000 trafficked into Burma, according to the U.N. The latest U.S. sanctions aimed at scam networks target the DKBA and four of its leaders, as well as entities and an individual linked to Chinese organized crime, the U.S. Treasury Department reported.
“Criminal networks operating out of Burma are stealing billions of dollars from hardworking Americans through online scams,” said John Hurley, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “These same networks traffic human beings and help fuel Burma’s brutal civil war. The Administration will keep using every tool we have to go after these cybercriminals—wherever they operate.” Read more
Mon State Federal Council rejects regime elections
The Mon State Federal Council (MSFC) announced on Monday that it rejects the regime’s 2025–2026 elections, set to begin on Dec. 28 and continue into January 2026. The MSFC, reconstituted from the Mon State Interim Coordination Committee (MSICC) in January 2023, was established after the 2021 military coup to serve as a state-level federal unit.
“We’ll take action against the political parties and candidates who participate in the elections,” an MSFC spokesperson told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that the regime’s elections “aren’t beneficial” for the country. A resident of the Mon State capital Mawlamyine told DVB that the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) began campaigning earlier this month.
Eight political parties are reportedly set to contest the regime elections in Mon State. The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) has scheduled polls across all 10 townships in Mon State, with the first phase scheduled to take place in Mawlamyine, Kyaikto, Kyaikmaraw, Chaungzon, and Thaton. The other five townships will hold polls in the second and third phases in January 2026.
News by Region
KACHIN—The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB that it didn’t meet to discuss a ceasefire with the regime in Naypyidaw. Pro-regime social media accounts claimed that the KIA was involved in a Chinese-brokered ceasefire after the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) reached one on Oct. 29.
Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB that resistance forces have been fighting the regime’s Military Operations Command (MOC)-21 in Bhamo Township since Dec. 4. Bhamo is located 118 miles (190 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and 56 miles (90 km) southwest of the KIA headquarters at Laiza.
MANDALAY—Five civilians were killed and at least five others, including children, were injured by airstrikes on a school in Makale village of Singu Township, residents told DVB on Wednesday. Singu, located 57 miles (91 km) north of Mandalay, was seized by the People’s Defense Force (PDF) in July 2024.
“The victims were displaced from Madaya and had taken refuge at the school,” a Singu resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Two buildings were destroyed by airstrikes carried out by an Air Force jet from Mandalay’s Tada-U airport. Four civilians were killed by airstrikes on a school in Singu’s Shwepyi village on Nov. 7.
SAGAING—The PDF in Shwebo Township told DVB that four bodies of civilians were recovered and an unknown number of homes were destroyed after an arson attack on four villages by a regime column on Monday. Shwebo is located 57 miles (91 km) northeast of the region’s capital Monywa.
A PDF member in Shwebo told DVB that the arson occurred during a raid by regime forces after fighting with the PDF on Nov. 10. The regime’s Light Infantry Division 33 launched an offensive in Shwebo on Oct. 2. Clashes between the PDF and regime forces have been reported 10 times from Oct. 2 to Nov. 10.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,080 MMK)
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