Myanmar's ruling military junta has published a parliamentary bill that seeks the death penalty for individuals who force victims into online scam centers, while proposing life imprisonment for operating such facilities or conducting crypto scam offenses.

The draft "Anti-Online Scam Bill" would allow capital punishment for "violence, torture, unlawful arrest and detention, or cruel treatment against another person for the purpose of forcing them to commit online scams,” Singapore-based CNA reported Friday.

CNA said the draft legislation also outlines the creation of a new committee tasked with coordinating international cooperation against online scam operations, with Myanmar’s military-backed parliament next scheduled to sit in the first week of June. 

The proposal comes as Myanmar has drawn sustained international scrutiny over cybercriminal networks operating from fortified compounds in conflict-affected regions, where victims have been trafficked and forced into large-scale online fraud operations targeting users worldwide, including crypto investment schemes.

In September 2025, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned nine entities in Myanmar’s Shwe Kokko region and ten in Cambodia over alleged involvement in crypto investment scams, citing the use of debt bondage, violence, and coercion to compel individuals into scam work.

The FBI said in its 2025 Internet Crime Report that cryptocurrency-related fraud losses reached $11.4 billion, with more than half of total internet crime losses tied to crypto schemes, and seniors accounting for $4.4 billion of reported losses.