Cambodia Plans to Shut All Scam Centres by April

Cambodia Plans to Shut All Scam Centres by April

PHNOM PENH — The government of Cambodia says it plans to shut down all known online scam centres in the country by the end of April as part of a major crackdown on cybercrime operations that have targeted victims around the world.

Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, who heads the Commission for Combating Online Scams, said authorities have already shut down about 80 percent of the sites believed to be involved in scam operations.

Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday (March 11), he said that since July last year, authorities have targeted approximately 250 locations suspected of operating online scam activities. Of those, about 200 have already been closed.

The government plans to complete the remaining shutdowns by the end of April. After that, police will continue suppression operations to prevent scam networks from re-establishing themselves.

Longstanding Regional Problem

Online scam centres have become a major issue across Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia and Myanmar. According to international analysts and United Nations experts, victims worldwide lose tens of billions of dollars each year to fraud schemes run from the region.

These scams often include romance fraud, investment scams, and cryptocurrency schemes designed to trick victims into sending large sums of money.

Many of the operations are also linked to human trafficking. Workers from multiple countries are frequently recruited with fake job offers and then forced to run scam operations under harsh conditions resembling modern slavery.

Thousands of Workers Repatriated

Chhay Sinarith said Cambodian authorities have opened 79 legal cases involving 697 suspected scam leaders and accomplices.

In addition, nearly 10,000 workers from 23 countries have been repatriated after being rescued from scam centres. Fewer than 1,000 people are still waiting to be returned to their home countries, while others who escaped or were released during raids have already left Cambodia independently.

Cambodia has also worked closely with international partners such as China and the United States to combat transnational cybercrime networks.

Police Raids Continue

Authorities recently conducted another raid in the capital, Phnom Penh, targeting a suspected scam operation in a high-rise building. About 60 Cambodian and Chinese nationals were arrested during the operation.

According to Phnom Penh Municipal Police deputy commissioner Bun Sosekha, the suspects allegedly used online chat platforms to convince people in Europe to invest money in fake financial schemes.

“They chatted with victims to persuade them to invest money, but the investment was fake and fraudulent,” he said.

During earlier raids, police also confiscated equipment used in scams, including uniforms and fake identification cards that criminals used to impersonate Japanese police officers in order to intimidate victims.

Industry Expanded During Pandemic

Authorities say online scams first appeared in Cambodia around 2012, initially using voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) phone systems to hide the callers’ identities and locations.

However, the industry grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. When casinos across the country lost in-person customers due to lockdowns, many shifted toward large-scale online fraud operations.

Since then, scam networks originating in Southeast Asia have expanded globally, reaching victims across Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

While the Cambodian government says its latest crackdown will eliminate scam centres by April, some experts remain cautious.

Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at the Harvard University Asia Center, said the key challenge is dismantling the financial and protection networks that allow these operations to function.

Without targeting those systems, he warned, scam centres could quickly reappear even after buildings are shut down.

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