Cambodia aims to close all online scam centers by the end of April, authorities announced, as part of a nationwide crackdown on cybercrime.
Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, head of the Commission for Combating Online Scams, said that since July, the government has targeted 250 suspected scam sites, shutting down 200, around 80% of them.
Authorities plan to maintain enforcement after April to prevent reemergence of the operations. So far, 79 legal cases have been launched against 697 alleged ringleaders, while nearly 10,000 foreign workers exploited in scams have been repatriated from 23 countries.
Cambodia’s online scam industry, heavily involved in romance and cryptocurrency fraud, continues to grow, with victims worldwide losing tens of billions annually. The operations often rely on human trafficking, employing foreigners under false job offers and forcing them into near-slavery conditions.
Recent police raids in Phnom Penh have seen around 60 suspects arrested, including Cambodian and Chinese nationals, with confiscated materials including fake IDs and uniforms used to impersonate law enforcement online.
The illicit industry, which started on a smaller scale around 2012 using VOIP phones, expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic as casinos turned to large-scale online fraud.
Today, Cambodian scam networks have spread globally, reaching Africa and Latin America, prompting closer international cooperation with countries including China and the United States.
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