Cambodia continues raids on scam centers, bringing arrests in past 3
weeks over 2,100
[July 19, 2025]
By SOPHENG CHEANG
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Authorities in Cambodia continued their
stepped-up campaign against online scam centers, arresting at least 500
suspects in two provinces on Thursday and Friday, the country's
information minister said.
The arrests in Kandal province on the outskirts of the capital Phnom
Penh, and in the northeastern province of Stung Treng, brought to 2,137
the total number detained since June 27, Information Minister Neth
Pheaktra said in a statement.
Those netted in raids in 43 locations around the country included 429
Vietnamese, 271 Indonesians, 589 Chinese, 57 Koreans, 70 Bangladeshi and
42 Pakistanis, said his statement. Other suspects were from Thailand,
Laos, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Myanmar.
The United Nations and other agencies have estimated that cyberscams,
most of them originating from Southeast Asia, earn international
criminal gangs billions of dollars annually. The cybercriminals pretend
friendship or tout phony investment opportunities to cheat their targets
around the world.
Neth Pheaktra’s statement said Cambodia’s crackdown is ongoing “and will
absolutely continue, with a clear mandate from the top leadership to
root out all illegal cybercrime activity — regardless of location or
affiliation.”
He said it was strengthened by a directive issued Monday by Prime
Minister Hun Manet that threatened state personnel at all levels with
transfers or dismissal if they failed to act vigorously against
cyberscams.
The latest arrests followed 2,418 others in the first six months of the
year involving 18 alleged scam operations in different parts of the
country, said a report from the National Police Commissioner cited by
Neth Pheaktra.
These resulted in 73 prosecutions and 2,322 foreigners being deported,
it said.
Workers at scam centers are often recruited under false pretenses and
then held captive to work under tight guard.
“Jobseekers from Asia and beyond are lured by the promise of well-paid
work into hellish labour camps run by well-organized gangs, where they
are forced to scam under the very real threat of violence,” the human
rights groups Amnesty International said in a report issued last month.
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In this photo provided by state news service Agence Kampuchea Press,
alleged online scammers arrested by authorities sit in a classroom
on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AKP
via AP)
It said the findings of its 18-month investigation into cyberscams
“suggest there has been coordination and possibly collusion between
Chinese compound bosses and the Cambodian police, who have failed to
shut down compounds despite the slew of human rights abuses taking
place inside.” The kingpins of many online scam operations tend to
be ethnic Chinese organized crime bosses, who generally operate
outside China in areas with weak law enforcement.
A spokesperson for the Cambodian human rights organization Licadho,
which is often critical of the government, noted the country’s poor
reputation due to cybercrime, and welcomed the crackdown.
“This campaign should have been launched long ago because Cambodia
has been criticized by international organizations, the
international community, and the United Nations for online fraud in
Cambodia, which has affected Cambodia’s image, international
tourists, investment, security, order, and social security,”
Licadko’s operations director Am Sam Ath, told The Associated Press.
“However, launching this campaign is good to demonstrate the Royal
Government’s determination and willingness to prevent and suppress
online fraud and trust,” he said, noting that other members of the
regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations had also acted this
year to suppress online crime.
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