Burma's government approved the death penalty as punishment for internet scammers just months after the FBI announced a sweeping $8 billion crackdown on scam networks coming from the country, according to the country's state-backed media.The Anti-Online Scam Law passed the country's parliament on Tuesday, green lighting the death penalty for anyone who participates in a scam that in which they "commit violence, torture, unlawfully arrest or detain, or treat any person in a cruel manner," according to The Global New Light of Myanmar, a media outlet jointly operated by a private company and the country's Ministry of the Interior.Burma, also known as Myanmar, has become ground zero for digital scams, with criminals often recruiting migrants from other Asian countries with promises of legitimate work only to imprison them and force them to conduct the scams.In May the FBI announced a massive crackdown on a criminal network in Burma known as the "Democratic Karen Benevolent Army." The operation resulted in the seizure of 127,000 Bitcoin, worth over $8 billion as of July.FBI BRINGS ALLEGED CHINA-LINKED HACKER TO US IN RARE EXTRADITION AS PATEL DEFENDS ITALY TRIPMultinational victims of scam centers, who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar, stand on a vessel floating towards the Thai side of border via Moei River in Phop Phra District, Tak province, Thailand, on Feb.12, 2025.
(REUTERS/Krit Phromsakla Na Sakolnakorn)The scammers, who allegedly have ties to Chinese organized crime, had been specifically targeting Americans in their operations, extracting over $3 million from one elderly American, the FBI previously told Fox News Digital.In 2025, Chinese, Thai and Burmese authorities liberated more than 7,000 people from locked compounds in Burma.NEW GERMANY SEX-CRIME FIGURES REIGNITE MIGRATION FIGHT AS EXPLOITATION PROBE EXPANDSVictims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar, stuck in limbo at a compound inside the KK Park, a fr...