Senator Demands Answers from Musk About Asia-Based Crypto Scams
SpaceX leader asked to explain Starlink's role.
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2025 – Criminals seem to have a new weapon of choice: Starlink. One Democratic senator is calling for action.
In a letter sent Monday, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to prevent transnational criminals from using Starlink, the company’s low-Earth orbit satellite network, to carry out digital asset scams.
Hassan stated that since November 2022, the Secret Service has reportedly received more than 8,000 complaints about digital asset scams. She also cited data from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department, which revealed that crypto scams in Southeast Asia have cost Americans billions.
“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,” Hassan wrote.
She identified Starlink as a key tool enabling these crimes.
“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,” Hassan said. “In another example, one law enforcement operation in Thailand seized more than 130 Starlink devices from scam compounds around the country.”
Hassan explained that Starlink’s “portability, decentralized infrastructure, and independence from national telecom networks” makes it especially attractive to scammers.
Beyond financial crime, Hassan described the issue as a “humanitarian crisis.” According to a United Nations report, the scam networks in Southeast Asia use at least 220,000 trafficked individuals across Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos to perform the crimes.
In some cases, victims of the Southeast Asia scams have driven themselves to suicide.
Hassan concluded her letter with a series of questions for Musk, inquiring how aware of the situation SpaceX is, what measures the company is taking to prevent criminal use, and how much revenue SpaceX has made from the scams.
Musk has until August 18 to respond.
Member discussion