Myanmar : Chinese money laundering gangs have already settled in the center of Yangon

“We have to attract. I would say Sex Chat (sexual flirting). After luring them, ask them to download the software. After drawing, the next step is Chatting. I asked the man to buy an item. I asked him to buy it, and he has already tracked all the activities of that phone. For example, from a bank account. I was asked to buy with an online payment system. When asked to buy, I had to use a password. As soon as they knew the password, the hackers from this side hacked what was in that bank account and took it all."

A person who has personally worked there and who does not want to be named for security reasons, is recounting the story of the money laundering gang on the fifth floor of the MMB Tower (Myanmar Mayflower Building) building on Phaso Tan Road in downtown Yangon. Facebook Instagram, Whatsapp Through social media accounts such as Tiktok, people from other countries can be identified by their gender. After unnaturally luring the other person to know the secret code of the other person's bank account. Once installed, the software will remain hidden on the phone and computer.

Through this software, a hacker can see everything that is done on the person's phone or computer. If you see this, the fraud gang employee is communicating with the other victim and starts to lure you to buy something online that you have to pay with your bank card. If the victim on the other side has bought it, the computer hacking wizard knows the bank secret codes he used and is about to get the money from his bank.

If you want to delete the spy software inside your phone or computer, your phone, He said the only way to get the computer back to factory settings is called a 'reset'.

"Once you download the software, you can see how much is in your bank account."

Each employee has a computer. They were given two low-end iPhones each and some social media accounts and were instructed to find and lie to foreign victims from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., a woman who used to work on the fifth floor of MMB Tower's security told RFA on condition of anonymity.

"Facebook they have given six; Instagram is two; Whatsapp is two; Such things are given. I can't use that much. They taught me how to attract people. I was asked to download the software. Once the software is downloaded, how much is in the bank account? What, they all see it."

MMB Tower or Myanmar Mayflower Tower

When I started working, I knew that I would have to work in the MMB Tower building. It is said that it is known online as V5 Myanmar Company.

RFA contacted the six telephone numbers listed in the job invitation from MMB Tower, including V5 Myanmar's job invitation, but none of them answered.

V5 Myanmar Company is located on floor number '5' of the MMB Tower building, and there are more than 60 employees on that floor. In addition to Myanmar nationals, Chinese, Vietnam He said some Indonesians and Thais are also working. As far as I can learn online, there are some Laotians working on that floor number '5'.

Currently targeting Indonesian citizens, Vietnamese name, People who have worked there say that they were scammed by communicating through social media accounts with Thai names. RFA sent an email to the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon to find out how many people have been scammed in Indonesia, but they have not yet received a reply.

He told me that in that job, there is a department that targets and persuades people from other countries, as well as a department called Hacker.

The leader of the group that governs the workers is a Shan Chinese named Jasmine. A Burmese man named Tarein Minmin, whose name is Tianyi in Chinese, Someone who uses the secret name of Joe Joe (Jiu Jiu) It is said that there are three in total. As for Joe Joe, he is only known to be in Namkham city in northern Shan State, said those who have worked there.

Is it related to the authorities?

The former employee told me that last July, the business was closed for five days because the authorities were going to raid it. Employees who used to work do not know exactly whether they received this information in advance because they are related to local authorities. Contacting local authorities to inquire about this was also unsuccessful.

12 employees per room on the first floor of a condo building in the MMB Tower courtyard. Those who worked said that six bunk beds were arranged, and the staff who cooked Burmese rice in that condo for food.

In front of the MMB Tower building, there is a company sign saying 'Win Win International E-Commerce'. According to information from the Myanmar Department of Investment and Management (DICA), this company was registered on April 10, 2022. So when I contacted the telephone number listed in the DICA register, the phone was not the company's number, but a woman's phone in another city.

Floor No. 5 of MMB Tower is the place where Yangon Airways, which was subject to economic sanctions by the United States in 2008, opened an office. Yangon Airways was a business owned by Ai Ho, the son-in-law of UWSP leader Po Yu Chan. The original owner of Myanmar Mayflower Building was U Kyaw Win, the tycoon of the Mayflower Company. U Kyaw Win and U Ai Ho are business partners.

The logo on the employee card hanging around the neck of a Lao citizen who used to work on the fifth floor of MMB Tower, who is now engaged in online fraud business, is the same as the logo of Win Win International E-Commerce Company. In the registration information of the Win Win company, it is written that it is a company that works in "telecommunications, computer programming, and information services."

Although the director of Win Win Company is listed as 'U Kyaw Su Kyung', RFA was not allowed to contact the company officials because the telephone number given is the number of someone not related to the company. The name of the company, V5 Myanmar, can only be found in job advertisements on the Internet and is not officially registered.

MMB Tower job invitations

The person who informed RFA said that he applied online without knowing that this job was a scam.

"It didn't work, so I went to work there. Called online, of course. When I call for interviews, I have to learn English. Computer typing must be fast. Must be able to type more than 30 characters per minute. So I went to the interview. I went to work for the interview."

When applying for a job, "丽莎" (Lì shā) in Chinese. He said that he can be contacted through a Telegram account written as Lisa in English. According to the audio file received by RFA, Lisa is from China. It turns out that it is a woman with a Shan accent.

400,000 salary for chatting work to persuade them. 50,000 per day After the living expenses, he said that he was employed. But if they don't like it within seven days, Or the people who worked there told me that if they want to quit, they won't pay that week's wages.

At MMB Tower, it is said that the office closes after 12:00 noon for lunch and half an hour on Sunday morning. As far as RFA has learned, there are three security personnel waiting at the entrance gate of MMB Tower. They were not like ordinary security personnel, but they were always watching the shadows of passers-by nearby.

There may be a total of 350 people working across the continent, and people who have worked there say there may be online scams up to the 10th floor of the tower. RFA has yet to investigate this in detail.

In the job advertisements for MMB Tower, it is written that you have to chat. Chinese-Burmese language experts will be paid 12,000,000 15,000,000 salary for people who can speak English in addition to China-Myanmar. I saw that it was written that the salary for the online advertising market and office staff position would be from three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand.

A young man from Yangon, who did not want to be named for security reasons, who applied for a job on the 12th floor of MMB Tower, did not have a degree. He told RFA that he had no business experience and was told that he would be paid 700,000.

Is it a reliable company? No

Another young man who is based in Yangon and has applied for a fraudulent job, suggests that when looking for a job, you should research carefully to be a trustworthy company.

"If you're looking for a job, you should carefully study the company's pages, I advise you to enter only after you know exactly what the company is. For those who can do office work, I recommend looking for a job at Yangon Connection. The admin checked it carefully and gave approval, so I can trust it very much."

People who worked there said they started seeing scam job ads on MMB Tower around October 2022. Since the renovation of the interior of the building was seen in November 2022, it is estimated that work will begin after the renovation is completed. According to pictures posted on the social network page of an air conditioner installation company, in March 2023, CCTV (surveillance cameras) and air conditioners were installed in this building.

Chinese money laundering gangs are not only in MMB Tower. The 15th floor of Junction City Office Tower at the corner of Yangon 27th Street and General Street. Time City at Hanthawati Road and Kyungtaw Road. They are said to be in Crystal Tower on Kyuntaw Road and Star City Housing in Thanein Township, as well as other places.

"I don't do lying directly. Catch the person who is going to lie, I have to find someone to send to Myawati."

A young man who used to work there told RFA that there was a money laundering gang at the Junction City Office Tower.

"On the 15th floor of the Junction City Office Tower in the center of Yangon, there used to be a company called 'Chao Si'. I used to work in one of those companies. After working for two months, I left at once. At first it was called an online game, but it wasn't actually an online game. There, the main thing is that they don't lie directly. The person who will lie I need to find someone to send to Laukkai and Myawati."

The young man said that the spread of Chinese fraud gangs to the center of Yangon was after the coup d'état.

"After the 2021 coup d'état, these businesses are located in central areas of Yangon. In other words, in the places where famous companies are headquartered, they tend to be interspersed like that."

These are just the statements of former employees who worked at MMB Tower themselves. RFA has not yet been able to independently verify whether the business organizations in the MMB Tower are actually doing fraudulent work online.

General Zaw Min Tun, who was allowed to speak to the military council about this matter, Nay Pyi Taw also contacted the Ministry of Interior's office phone to inquire, but it has not been able to be contacted yet. RFA also contacted Yangon Region Spokesperson U Htay Aung by phone, but he responded that the phone was wrong.

RFA sent an email to the Chinese Embassy asking about the involvement of Chinese nationals in money laundering gangs in Yangon, but they have not yet received a reply.

Last August 15th and 16th, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, China, Laos Thailand Meeting of four Myanmar countries , online money fraud, human trafficking China reported that they discussed joint suppression of kidnappings.

In the meantime, the Myanmar and Chinese police jointly raided online criminal gangs in northern Myanmar last August and September 3 and arrested Myanmar, including most Chinese nationals. Vietnam China's Ministry of Public Security announced on September 5 that nearly five hundred Malaysians had been arrested.

According to a report of the United Nations on August 29, more than 120,000 people in Myanmar have been forced into online fraud.

China : "Don't ask about the teachers who came to help from within, this is the country's internal affairs!"

“I'm sorry I can't answer. The issues you are asking about are internal conditions in Xinjiang's education system. I already told you. If you want to know about the issue of teacher allocation in the education system, then I'm sorry I can't answer that. You need to identify yourself before asking questions about where teachers are sent in the education system! You do not know the politics of this country?! Who are you? If you don't tell me again, I'm going to turn the tape over to the police!"

The person who said the above threatening words is a Chinese woman who answered our phone call from the Kashgar Provincial Education Bureau. He said these words on September 1 when the Uighur department of our radio refused to answer our questions about which counties of Kashgar the Chinese teachers who arrived in Kashgar at the end of August under the name of "educational aid" were assigned.

On August 26, Kashgar TV reported that on August 25, 150 Chinese teachers who arrived from Shandong province were divided into 15 groups and started working in schools in Yeni Muhar, Yenisar, Yopurga and Mekit counties.

In the August 30 news of China's "China News" network, the 377 Chinese teachers who came to help Kashgar from Shandong Province were praised for playing an active role in improving the quality of education in Kashgar.

The Chinese woman who answered our phone at the Kashgar Provincial Education Bureau not only refused to answer our questions about the so-called "teachers sent to help" from Shandong, but also rejected our questions about the Chinese language education currently being practiced in the Uyghur region under the name of "national language teaching" and the Uyghur language teaching that was canceled in the region against the Chinese state law. He refused to answer the question, calling it illegal.

Our conversation continued as follows: Q: What are the requirements for teaching in Kashgar? What are the requirements for national language teaching? What are your standards for the national language level?

Education Bureau officer: "Do you want the national language?" If he gets the qualification certificate, he will meet the condition.

Q: "So what is required of teachers in terms of language?"

Education Bureau official: "Language for teacher certification is measured."

Q: "Does it have to be in the national language when teaching at school?"

Education Bureau official: "Now the national language is the common language of our country. But do you think that it is necessary to teach in the minority language?"

Q: “Of course I do. The Uyghurs are very dense in that place. That place is Uighur Autonomous Region. What about the provision that Uyghur language education will be implemented in the Uyghur Autonomous Region? In the past, Uyghurs want to receive education in their mother tongue? Now why has this become 'national language education'?''

The Education Bureau officer said, "Don't you know the politics of our country?" Are you living in the 80's?! Do you mean that Uyghurs are not people of our country?

Q: “Your policy is that classes must be taught in the national language, right? Before 2017, Uyghurs in this place want to receive education in Uyghur language? What I want to know is the right of Uyghurs to receive education in their mother tongue.

The Education Bureau officer said, “Why do you ask so deeply? Are you not sure about our country's policy on this matter? You are a reporter. Your questions are related to the internal situation of Xinjiang's education system. I will report all of your statements to the police! I'm sorry I can't answer these questions.”

Above, you heard the answers of the Kashgar Provincial Education Bureau about the Chinese teachers sent to Kashgar from Shandong Province under the name of "help" and the Chinese teaching system called "National Language Education" being implemented in the Uyghur region. In the next part of our program, under the name "Strengthening Education", we reported on the situation of the Uyghur department of our radio station about the requirements for Chinese language teachers who are being recruited all over China.