US Seizes Bogus Investment Platform Tied to Casino Kosai Scam Hub

• US seizes tickmilleas.com, a fraudulent trading app from Casino Kosai.
  
• Casino compound linked to human trafficking, torture and pig-butchering scams.

The US Department of Justice has seized a web domain tied to a notorious casino complex in Myanmar, formerly Burma, that has previously been linked to human trafficking and scam centers.

According to federal prosecutors, the domain, tickmilleas.com, which was used by scammers based in Myanmar’s Casino Kosai, posed as a legitimate trading platform but existed purely as a means to scam investors.

US Scam Crackdown

This is the latest in a concerted effort by the US government to crack down on the fraud networks typically based around casino operations that have spread across Southeast Asia, particularly in semi-lawless regions of countries such as Myanmar and Cambodia.

Many of the casinos in the area pivoted to fraud during the pandemic when the stream of visitors from China and Thailand dried up because of travel restrictions.

These largely Chinese criminal networks are tied to human trafficking, according to the US Treasury. Typically, workers are lured with promises of legitimate jobs but then forced into scam operations through violence, debt bondage, or sexual exploitation.

Investors hoping to grow their money through tickmilleas.com were promised impressive returns and shown fake balances after scammers walked the victims through falsified trades., according to federal prosecutors.

The app was available for download through Google Play and App Store until the FBI ordered the tech giants to remove it.

Notorious Gambling Hub

Casino Kosai is located in the village of Kyaukhat, a stone’s throw from the border with Thailand and 25 miles south of Myawaddy town, a notorious gambling and scam center hub.

Referred to by the Justice Department as the Tai Chang scam compound, it is affiliate with local ethnic militia the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), as well as an entity called the Asia International Holding Group Thailand Company Limited (Trans Asia).

Both were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department last month for links to Chinese organized crime and human trafficking.

Pig Butchering

In November 2023, 16 Laotian teens were rescued from Casino Kosai. They spoke of being lured there under false pretenses and forced to work on “pig-butchering” scams, which involve starting fake romantic online relationships that eventually lead to stealing large sums of money from targets.

If they refused, or simply failed to meet those targets, they were tortured, they told Radio Free Asia.

These … scams, such as the ones described by victims in the affidavit, typically begin through unsolicited outreach from strangers over dating applications, social media, messaging applications, and text messages,” the DOJ wrote.

“These strangers form close virtual relationships with their victim targets, convince them to make purported investments in or using cryptocurrency, and direct victims on how to purchase cryptocurrency and invest it using fraudulent domains and applications that appear legitimate,” it added.