US issues sanctions against Myanmar armed group over scams

The United States on Wednesday imposed financial sanctions on a Myanmar militia group for supporting a cyber scam operation that targeted Americans

from territory it controls.



Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked by criminal gangs across Southeast Asia in recent years and forced to work in scam centers, many of them located inside war-torn Myanmar.



The latest U.S. sanctions aimed at scam networks target the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and four of its leaders, as well as entities and an individual linked to Chinese organized crime, the U.S. Treasury Department said.



"Criminal networks operating out of Burma are stealing billions of dollars from hardworking Americans through online scams,” said John Hurley, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, using an older name for the country.