Senator Hassan to Musk: “SpaceX has a responsibility to block criminals from using the service to target Americans”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) is pressing SpaceX to crack down on transnational criminal groups allegedly using its Starlink satellite internet service to scam Americans. Recent reports have revealed that Starlink is being used to facilitate fraud against Americans by a broad range of transnational criminal organizations operating scam compounds in Southeast Asia. According to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, these groups have scammed Americans out of billions of dollars.
“While most people have probably noticed the increasing number of scam texts, calls, and emails they’re receiving, they may not know that transnational criminals halfway across the world may be perpetrating these scams by using Starlink internet access,” said Senator Hassan. “SpaceX has a responsibility to acknowledge any role that Starlink has played in facilitating scams emanating from Southeast Asia, and to block these criminals from using the service to target Americans.”
Scam networks based in Southeast Asia often turn to Starlink for its portability, decentralized infrastructure, and independence from national telecoms networks. While recent reporting has alleged the widespread scale of Starlink usage by these criminal organizations, SpaceX has seemingly not acknowledged the potential role Starlink can play in scams or provided any information about what SpaceX is doing to prevent scam networks in Southeast Asia from using its service to facilitate scams against Americans.
Senator Hassan is pushing for answers from Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, about what the company is doing to block access for these criminals as a part of her major effort to protect Americans from financial scams, which eclipsed $1 trillion in stolen money worldwide last year. Earlier this month, Senator Hassan released an issue brief outlining the massive impact that scams have on the economy, underscoring the importance of tackling them, and previewing her upcoming investigations into major drivers of scams. She also launched a public survey, located HERE, for people to send information in about scams that they have experienced, to help guide her investigative work.
Click here to read Senator Hassan’s letter to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, or see below:
Dear Mr. Musk:
According to an October 2024 report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, transnational criminal groups have used Starlink, a satellite internet serviced owned by SpaceX, to facilitate fraud against individuals in the United States. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has warned that these groups have caused billions of dollars in losses for Americans. In addition, since November 2022, the Secret Service has received more than 8,000 complaints related to digital asset scams, many with traces to scam networks in Southeast Asia. Given the significant financial consequences for Americans, I write today to request information about SpaceX’s efforts to prevent the misuse of Starlink in transnational fraud.
Experts have stated that scam networks in Southeast Asia turn to Starlink for its portability, decentralized infrastructure, and independence from national telecom networks. In one example, a Wired investigation found that across eight scam compounds in Myanmar, at least 412 devices identified Starlink as their provider and recorded more than 40,000 logins. In another example, one law enforcement operation in Thailand seized more than 130 Starlink devices from scam compounds around the country.
While SpaceX has stated that it investigates and deactivates Starlink devices in various contexts, it seemingly has not publicly acknowledged the use of Starlink for scams originating in Southeast Asia — or publicly discussed actions the company has taken in response. Scam networks in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, however, have apparently continued to use Starlink despite service rules permitting SpaceX to terminate access for fraudulent activity. A United Nations report has confirmed that SpaceX can restrict access to Starlink through “geofencing,” making the service unavailable in specific countries or locations, but it is unclear whether the company has done so in Southeast Asia. According to one expert based in the region, “Starlink [is] failing the first basic test of business and human rights, which is to ensure that your operations do no harm.”
Transnational fraud has imposed significant human and economic costs in the United States, Southeast Asia, and around the world. According to recent estimates, scams emanating from Southeast Asia likely result in more than $43.8 billion in losses globally each year, with Americans losing $3.5 billion in 2023 alone. This fraud, often carried out by forced labor, can also cause profound psychological distress that drives victims of scams to suicide. The United Nations has also reported that scam networks in Southeast Asia force at least 220,000 trafficked individuals to carry out online scams — a situation its experts describe as a “humanitarian and human rights crisis.”
To aid Congress in understanding the scope of Starlink’s role in transnational fraud and efforts to prevent related criminal misuse of its devices, please provide responses to the following information requests. These requests cover the time period of January 1, 2020, to the present:
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