PHNOM PENH— In a major operation against organised cybercrime, Cambodian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 suspects across at least five provinces in a coordinated raid targeting scam compounds, officials confirmed Wednesday .
Cyber Scam Centres Busted, Multi-National Ring Dismantled
Prime Minister Hun Manet issued a decree mandating immediate action to “prevent and crack down on online scams,” prompting simultaneous raids in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Kratie, Pursat, and other regions . Those arrested include nationals from at least 200 Vietnamese, 270 Indonesians (including 45 women), 27 Chinese, 75 Taiwanese, and others from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Cambodia . Officers seized hundreds of mobile phones, computers, and other devices commonly used to orchestrate romance and investment fraud on a massive scale.
Local and international advocacy groups have repeatedly flagged these compounds as hubs of human trafficking. Amnesty International earlier this year accused Cambodian authorities of turning a blind eye to the brutal abuses—slavery, torture, forced labour—within these scam factories, affecting some 100,000 people alone in Cambodia .
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High-Level Pressure and Regional Implications
Although similar crackdowns have occurred before, this operation appears more expansive and decisive, reflecting regional pressure to combat cybercrime that generates an estimated $40 billion (INR ₹3.34 lakh crore) annually in Southeast Asia. Hun Manet’s government emphasised public security and its international obligations in launching the raids, while critics note past efforts have often fallen short of meaningful results .
The timing coincides with rising tensions between Cambodia and Thailand over border disputes; some analysts view this anti-scam campaign as a strategic counterbalance to regional disputes—even as neighboring Thailand also intensifies its own cybercrime enforcement .