The post Democratic senator pushes Musk to block Starlink access to crime groups scamming Americans appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

A Democratic U.S. senator has called on Elon Musk to take urgent action to prevent transnational criminal organizations in Southeast Asia from exploiting SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service to defraud American citizens.  Despite the efforts of the Southeast Asian government, crime rings continue to access the internet via Starlink to pull off their schemes. With the growing concerns over satellite internet enabling global scam operations, Elon Musk is now being urged to restrict crime rings’ access to the internet via his internet service. Elon Musk urged to block Starlink use by Southeast Asian crime rings In a letter to Musk, Senator Maggie Hassan highlighted reports showing that these scam syndicates that operate out of countries like Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand are using Starlink to run widespread fraud operations that have already cost Americans billions of dollars. There has been mounting global alarm over the expansion of “scam compounds” across Southeast Asia. These illicit centers, often run by criminal groups with ties to China, have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people into forced labor, according to the United Nations. Victims are often coerced into running online fraud operations, which include phishing emails, fake investment platforms, romance scams, and other cybercrimes targeting Western countries. In her letter to Musk, Senator Hassan urged SpaceX to enforce its existing terms of service, which theoretically allow the company to terminate Starlink access for fraudulent or illegal activity. “SpaceX has a responsibility to block criminals from using the service to target Americans,” she wrote. “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,” SpaceX has not yet responded publicly to the senator’s concerns or the allegations…

---

Filed under: News - @ July 28, 2025 11:27 pm