SpaceX shuts down 2,500 Starlink kits linked to scam centers

Elon Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, has deactivated more than 2,000 Starlink satellite internet terminals in Myanmar after identifying links to large-scale cybercrime operations.

Just over a week after a bipartisan US congressional committee launched an inquiry into Starlink providing internet access to scam centers in Myanmar, Starlink has reportedly shut down 2,500 kits in the country. 

SpaceX’s vice president of business operations, Lauren Dreyer, confirmed the update in a post on X early Wednesday, saying the company was enforcing its Acceptable Use Policy and applicable laws.

“SpaceX complies with local laws in all 150+ markets where Starlink is licensed to operate. On the rare occasion we identify a violation, we take appropriate action, including working with law enforcement agencies around the world. In Myanmar, SpaceX proactively identified and disabled over 2,500 Starlink kits in the vicinity of suspected scam centers,” she wrote.

Starlink, SpaceX’s low-orbit satellite network, had quietly become Myanmar’s largest internet provider, according to data from the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC). 

Myanmar cybercrime activity under military siege 

Myanmar’s military authorities announced the dismantling of a major cyber-scam operation near the Thai border on Monday, arresting more than 2,000 suspects and seizing dozens of Starlink terminals. 

State-run newspaper Myanma Alinn reported that the crackdown began in early September in KK Park, one of the region’s most notorious compounds known for online fraud, illegal gambling, and cross-border cybercrime.

These criminal centers supposedly orchestrate romance scams and investment frauds that defraud victims globally, luring victims with false job offers and then holding them captive to commit scams under threat of violence. 

Chinese, Thailand, and Myanmar security forces jointly freed around 7,000 people, most of them Chinese nationals, in February. But despite the coordinated raids and promises by pro-junta militias to eradicate the networks, investigators found many scam centers had reconnected to the internet using Starlink terminals, which could bypass government controls.

SpaceX under US Congress, NASA pressure 

The internet company had been facing allegations of aiding fraudsters led by liberal US senator Maggie Hassan, who had urged Musk to cut off the service to “fraud factories.”

“While most people have probably noticed the increasing number of scam texts, calls, and emails, they may not know that transnational criminals halfway across the world may be perpetrating these scams by using Starlink internet access,” Hassan said in a statement.

The committee’s investigation began in July, with the power to summon Elon Musk for testimony if deemed necessary. Last week, the United States and the United Kingdom also imposed sanctions on the organizers of a Cambodian cybercrime network. At the same time, a US federal court indicted its alleged ringleader in New York.

The crackdown on Starlink’s misuse comes at a time when SpaceX is being strong-armed out of an exclusive partnership with the US government space exploration agency, NASA. 

Acting NASA administrator and US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said this week that it would expand partnerships for its Artemis moon program because SpaceX fell behind schedule on projects, Cryptopolitan reported.

“SpaceX had the contract for Artemis III,” Duffy told CNBC. “By the way, I love SpaceX; it’s an amazing company. The problem is they’re behind. They’ve pushed their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China.”

NASA had awarded SpaceX a $2.89 billion contract in 2021 to develop the Starship lunar landing system. However, after several technical setbacks, including several failed Starship test flights since 2023, NASA was forced to delay both the Artemis lunar flyby and surface landing missions to 2026 and 2027, respectively.

Responding to Duffy, CEO Musk defended his company’s progress by saying rival firm Blue Origin “has never delivered a payload to orbit, let alone the Moon,” before revising his commentary that he meant “useful payload.”