Cutting off the service could impact millions of civilians, while doing little to undermine the country’s criminal syndicates.
There is no longer any dispute about the menace posed by Southeast Asia-based scam centers and the urgent need to take action against them. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, online scam operations have cost American victims an estimated $16.6 billion, including more than $10 billion in 2024 alone.
Alarmed by this trend, U.S. lawmakers have begun taking action. In July of this year, the Joint Economic Committee-Minority in Congress, led by Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), issued a brief outlining the scams’ economic toll on Americans. She also emailed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to request that he block transnational criminals’ access to the company’s Starlink satellite internet service. Over the past few months, Congressman Jefferson Shreve (R-IN) introduced the Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) propos
Continue Reading on The Diplomat
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.