India has opened an investigation after reports alleged that Indian nationals were trafficked into Myanmar and forced to carry out crypto fraud operations inside cyber scam compounds. According to police in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities have registered a criminal case after the wife of a 24-year-old man reported that her husband had been taken to a cyber scam compound near the Thailand-Myanmar border instead of the job he had accepted in Bangkok. Inspector Nilesh Kele of the Beed Cyber Police confirmed that an FIR has been registered against unidentified persons, with the case involving an overseas trafficking network requiring India's Ministry of External Affairs to be informed while central agencies assist the investigation.
Investigators alleged that after arriving in Thailand, the victim was moved to a compound near the Myanmar border, where his passport and travel documents were confiscated. According to police reports, the victim managed to contact his family before losing communication and alleged that captives were forced to work 16-18 hours a day in cyber fraud operations, while those refusing orders faced electric shocks and other abuse. The latest reports from Maharashtra reveal even more disturbing conditions, with victims describing food so poor that it wouldn't be eaten by rats or cockroaches. Police also said he claimed that captors demanded ₹8 lakh (about $9,300) to secure their relative's release, while state authorities said efforts to bring those trapped home are underway. The victim also alleged that two to three captives who confronted their handlers were allegedly tortured to death.
According to the reports, victims said they were later taken into Myanmar and forced to run online investment and cryptocurrency scams, including creating fake social media profiles to lure people into fraudulent investment schemes. One family also alleged that captors demanded ₹8 lakh (about $9,300) to secure their relative's release, while state authorities said efforts to bring those trapped home are underway. The FBI has separately reported that cryptocurrency-related fraud caused $11.4 billion in losses in its latest Internet Crime Report, with more than half of all internet crime losses linked to crypto schemes. Some victims were allegedly made to create fake social media profiles, build online relationships with unsuspecting people and lure them into financial fraud schemes.
The latest allegations come as governments increase action against cyber scam networks in the region. As previously reported by crypto.news, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Myanmar militia, its leader and senior members in May over allegations that they facilitated cyber scam syndicates, cryptocurrency-related fraud, human trafficking and cross-border smuggling. According to the Treasury Department, U.S. victims lost more than $2 billion to cryptocurrency-related fraud in 2022 and more than $3.5 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, Myanmar's military published a draft Anti-Online Scam Bill in May proposing prison terms ranging from 10 years to life for people convicted of operating online scam centres or committing digital currency fraud.
India has conducted rescue operations in similar cases before. Earlier this year, more than 120 Indian nationals were repatriated from cyber scam centres in Myanmar, following additional rescue efforts carried out during the previous year. The latest reports indicate that more than 400 Indians are believed to be stranded in similar compounds across Southeast Asia. This demonstrates the ongoing nature of the trafficking and forced labor issues across Southeast Asia's cyber fraud networks. The victim's wife has urged authorities to secure his release as soon as possible, while the family has approached Maharashtra Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan with the help of a local BJP corporator, who has briefed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and spoken to some of the trapped youths.
