Myanmar Proposes Anti-Online Scam Law With Life Sentences for Crypto Fraud
Scam compounds along Myanmar’s borders have long been linked to human trafficking, unlawful detention and crypto investment fraud such as “pig-butchering” schemes, with victims forced to scam people worldwide. The United Nations estimated in August 2023 that about 120,000 people in Myanmar had been trafficked and forced to conduct online scams. As cross-border crime continues to expand, codifying penalties for technology-enabled offenses has become a focus of regional law enforcement.
Myanmar’s military government published a draft Anti-Online Scam Law on May 14, 2026, and the Ministry of Home Affairs submitted it to the upper house of parliament on June 3. Under the draft, operating an online scam center or engaging in digital-currency fraud would carry a sentence of 10 years to life in prison. Those who use violence, torture, unlawful detention or cruel treatment to force others to commit fraud could face the death penalty.
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The history behind this eventMyanmar Passes Anti-Scam Law With Death Penalty, Life Terms for Crypto Fraud
Online scam networks have expanded across Southeast Asia since the pandemic, turning parts of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos into bases for transnational syndicates. Trafficked workers are often detained and forced to run romance and cryptocurrency investment frauds targeting victims worldwide. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates such scams caused $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion in losses across East and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand in 2025, underscoring the regional stakes of Myanmar’s legislation.
Myanmar’s military-backed Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, or Union Parliament, passed the Anti-Online Scam Bill at a joint sitting in Naypyidaw on July 28. The law sets prison terms of 10 years to life for violence, torture or unlawful detention used to force people into cyber fraud, and requires the death penalty when such abuse causes death. Operating a scam centre or committing digital-currency fraud can draw life imprisonment. Authorities said they had detained 14,718 foreign nationals by late June and demolished 77 buildings linked to illicit gambling and scams.
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