Cambodia to target scam 'masterminds' as critics question crackdown's effectiveness

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia is gathering evidence against suspected "masterminds" of massive cyber fraud operations, the country's anti-scam minister said, amid criticism that the government's crackdown has failed to reach those ultimately responsible.

Legal action, “whether it involves the mastermind, the co-conspirator, owner, enabler or protector, it requires time and also it requires evidence”, Chhay Sinarith, who heads a government commission on combating fraud, told Reuters on the sidelines of a global anti-scam conference in the capital Phnom Penh on Thursday (Sep 24).

“That's why it is of utmost importance for us to cooperate,” he said, adding that information given by international partners had enabled action against some suspects and that premature disclosure of investigations could cause suspects to flee.

Cambodia this week hosted representatives of more than a dozen countries — including the US and China — at the conference, for discussions about tackling an industry that has tarnished the country’s reputation and damaged its economy.

Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations emerged after the pandemic as hubs for industrial-sized scam centres where workers are trafficked, detained in grim conditions and forced to defraud strangers online. The US said scam compounds in the region stole US$10 billion from Americans alone in 2024.

Chhay declared last month that Cambodia had eradicated large-scale scam compounds since it began a year-long crackdown, though it has not provided a full list of the sites it has raided. Analysts have been sceptical, saying that the operation has left high-level figures and protectors of the industry unscathed.

"It's clear that many large compounds remain active despite other operators clearing out and dispersing into smaller, decentralised sites," said John Wojcik, a senior analyst at blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. "The technology, payment rails, money-laundering networks and facilitators underpinning the industry also continue to operate at scale."

Chhay said authorities are expanding their investigation into the financial network of Prince Group, a Cambodia-based conglomerate the US alleges was a front for multi-billion-dollar online fraud and money laundering operations.

Its Chinese-born founder, Chen Zhi, was arrested and deported to China from Cambodia earlier this year.

Reporters toured two facilities outside of Phnom Penh that Cambodian authorities said were scam centres belonging to Prince Group - vast complexes that officials said housed thousands of workers. One had a fake Singaporean police station allegedly used for impersonation fraud.

Lawyers for Prince Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.