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Scams and swindles
OpinionAsia Opinion
Pheaktra Neth
Pheaktra Neth

Opinion | Cambodia is in a frontline battle against transnational scam syndicates

Targeted due to geography, Cambodia is on the front foot now, dismantling scam compounds, rescuing victims and prosecuting criminals

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In a November 12 raid, the Cambodian authorities rounded up thousands at an online fraud compound in Bavet City, the largest city in the southeastern province of Svay Rieng, which shares a border with Vietnam. Photo: Handout
Pheaktra Neth

Transnational online crime is one of the most serious security challenges facing the global community. It drives human trafficking and forced labour, enables large-scale fraud, destabilises economies and erodes public trust in digital financial systems. No country is immune, and no country can confront this threat alone.

In Cambodia, we are confronting this challenge directly. Prime Minister Hun Manet has made cyber-enabled crime, including online scams, trafficking and digital fraud, a national security priority. This reflects a clear recognition that online scam networks threaten economic and regional security by exploiting vulnerable people, corrupting financial systems and operating across borders with speed and sophistication.
Transnational criminal syndicates target Cambodia due to our geography, our position as a regional hub and the rapid growth of digital and service industries in Southeast Asia. Like other countries in the region, we face networks that recruit victims globally, move money across jurisdictions and hide operations behind complex corporate and digital structures.
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Over the past year, Cambodia has fundamentally restructured how the government investigates, prosecutes and dismantles these networks. This long-term institutional reform is designed to address the issue directly and persistently.

At the centre of this effort is the commission for combating online scams, established to coordinate enforcement, intelligence, prosecutions and international cooperation across government agencies. Permanent inter-ministerial task forces now operate nationwide. The prime minister personally chairs and supervises this effort, signalling unequivocally that there is zero tolerance for criminality or for officials who protect criminals.

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The results are clear. Across the country, scam compounds have been dismantled, victims rescued, criminal operations shut down, and thousands of suspects detained and prosecuted. Foreign nationals linked to scam networks have been deported in large numbers. Several high-profile cases have shown that neither wealth nor political connections provide immunity. The authorities are proceeding carefully based on evidence and due process to ensure prosecutions are credible.
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