Cambodia drafts its first law targeting online scam centers
[March 13, 2026] By
SOPHENG CHEANG
SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia said Friday it has drafted its first
law targeting online scam centers, after vowing to shut them down by the
end of April.
Cambodia is a major hub for scam operations, which extort money from
victims online through bogus investment schemes and feigned romances.
Victims around the world are estimated to have been cheated out of tens
of billions of dollars annually.
At the same time, thousands of people, especially from other Asian
nations, have been recruited with false job offers and then forced to
work in scam centers in conditions of near-slavery.
“This law is the most important legal instrument for Cambodia in
combating scams online, fighting money laundering and demonstrating that
Cambodia is not a paradise or a safe haven for criminals,” Information
Minister Neth Pheaktra said in a statement.
The new legislation approved by the Cabinet sets five to 10 years in
prison and a fine of 500 million to 1 billion riels ($125,000-250,000)
for organizing or directing a technology fraud site. In case of human
trafficking or violence, detention or confinement, the penalties rage
from 10 to 20 years plus a fine of up to 2 billion riels ($500,000). In
case of a death linked to a scam center, the offense is punishable by
imprisonment from 15 to 30 years, or life. Workers have died when they
tried to escape.
The new legislation must be approved by Parliament.
Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, in charge of the Commission for
Combating Online Scams, told The Associated Press in an interview on
Wednesday that the government since July had targeted 250 locations
believed to be carrying out online scams, and has shut down about 200.
Since last July, the government has filed 79 cases involving 697 alleged
scam ringleaders and their associates, according to Chhay Sinarith.
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Equipment confiscated in a raid by Cambodian police are laid out on
a table at a scam center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, March
11, 2026. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
 Cambodia has repatriated almost
10,000 scam center workers from 23 countries, with fewer than 1,000
waiting to return home. Others who have escaped or been released
from raided centers have returned on their own.
Neth Pheaktra said that the government “has made strong efforts to
combat this crime in order to protect Cambodia’s reputation and
economy, which have previously been damaged by online scams, and the
government does not receive any revenue from these activities.”
Cambodia has launched previous crackdowns but without major effect
on scam centers, and some experts are skeptical it can eliminate the
criminal industry.
“The real question is whether this effort targets the system that
enables the industry, not just the buildings where scams happen,”
said Jacob Sims, an expert on transnational crime and a visiting
fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center. “Past crackdowns in
Cambodia have often left the financial and protection networks
intact, allowing operations to quickly reconstitute.”
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Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this
report.
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