Myanmar Passes Anti-Scam Law Allowing Death Penalty for Severe Cyber Fraud Offences

Myanmar's military-backed Parliament has approved a new anti-online scam law that introduces some of the country's toughest penalties yet for cyber fraud, including capital punishment for offences involving forced participation in online scam operations or scams resulting in death.

Passed on 28 July, the legislation establishes a legal framework targeting the operators behind online scam compounds that have proliferated across Myanmar's border regions in recent years. Under the new law, individuals who detain, torture or use violence to force others into working in scam centres could face the death penalty, while operators of online scam centres and those convicted of cryptocurrency-related fraud may receive life imprisonment.

The legislation marks the first major law passed under the government led by President Min Aung Hlaing. It comes as Myanmar faces mounting international pressure to curb scam compounds that have become a key part of Southeast Asia's cyber fraud ecosystem.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), organised crime groups continue to operate large-scale scam centres across Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, using romance scams, cryptocurrency investment fraud and other online schemes to target victims globally. The agency has warned that recent enforcement efforts have largely displaced criminal networks to new locations rather than dismantling them.

Myanmar authorities said the new law is intended to strengthen efforts against organised cybercrime, although officials acknowledged that enforcement remains challenging due to the involvement of multiple armed groups in conflict-affected areas.

The legislation reflects a broader regional push to combat online fraud, as governments across Asia increase enforcement against scam compounds and cross-border cybercrime networks that have generated billions of dollars in illicit proceeds.