Cambodia Says All Scam Compounds Have Been Eliminated
AM730 · 2 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Cambodian authorities say large-scale online scam operations in the country have been brought fully under control and that no scam compounds remain nationwide. The announcement was delivered by Minister of State Chhay Sinarith, who also serves as secretary-general of the national committee for combating online scams, during a meeting with diplomats and international organization representatives on the 27th, with a statement released on the 28th. Officials said law enforcement had raided 624 criminal sites over the past year and arrested nearly 30,000 suspects from 39 countries. At the same time, the government acknowledged that criminal groups have shifted into smaller, more concealed operations in hotels, apartments, rental homes, vehicles and coffee shops.
Key Points
- Chhay Sinarith told foreign diplomats and international representatives on the 27th that Cambodia's large-scale scam activity had been fully contained.
- A government statement released on the 28th said no online scam compounds now remain inside Cambodia.
- Since July last year, authorities investigated 793 suspicious locations and then raided 624 scam-linked sites across the country.
- The crackdown led to the arrest of nearly 30,000 suspects from 39 countries, according to Cambodian officials.
- Amnesty International and analyst Jacob Sims questioned the claim, warning hidden networks and political protection may survive beyond visible compounds.
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the case matters because scam syndicates in Southeast Asia have relied on cross-border recruitment, movement of victims and online targeting that can affect people far beyond Cambodia. The dispute between official claims and outside assessments also underlines the difficulty of verifying whether criminal infrastructure has truly been dismantled when operations can fragment into smaller, harder-to-detect cells.