Cambodia has declared a decisive push to eliminate all online scam centers operating within its borders by the end of April, marking a significant escalation in its long-running battle against cybercrime. Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, who leads the Commission for Combating Online Scams, confirmed this ambitious deadline in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
Major Progress in Crackdown Efforts
Since July, Cambodian authorities have targeted 250 locations suspected of hosting lucrative online scam operations. According to Chhay Sinarith, approximately 80% of these sites—equating to 200 centers—have already been shut down. The government has initiated 79 legal cases involving 697 alleged ringleaders and their associates, demonstrating a robust legal response to the crisis.
Human Trafficking and Global Impact
The scam industry in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia and Myanmar, is deeply entangled with human trafficking. Foreign nationals are often lured with false job offers and then forced to work in near-slavery conditions, running romance and cryptocurrency scams that bilk victims worldwide out of tens of billions of dollars annually, as noted by United Nations experts and analysts.
In a positive development, Cambodia has repatriated almost 10,000 scam center workers from 23 countries, with fewer than 1,000 still awaiting official repatriation. Many others have returned home independently after escaping or being released during police raids.
Recent Raids and International Cooperation
Highlighting the ongoing efforts, Cambodian police conducted a raid on Tuesday in Phnom Penh, arresting about 60 Cambodian and Chinese nationals at a suspected scam center in a high-rise building. Deputy Commissioner Bun Sosekha of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police explained that the scammers used deceptive chats to convince European victims to invest in fake and fraudulent schemes.
Journalists were shown confiscated equipment from other raids, including uniforms and fake identification cards used by scammers to impersonate Japanese police officers online, tactics designed to trick and intimidate victims.
Historical Context and Pandemic Proliferation
Chhay Sinarith traced the origins of this illicit activity in Cambodia back to around 2012, when it began on a smaller scale using VOIP phones to disguise locations and identities. The scams exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, as casinos—many already involved in online gambling—lost in-person customers and shifted to industrial-scale online fraud.
Despite previous crackdowns that had limited effect, the current campaign shows more promise, with police planning suppression activities post-April to prevent the reemergence of these centers. Cambodia is collaborating closely with international partners, especially China and the United States, to combat the global spread of scam operations, which have now reached as far as Africa and Latin America.
This story is part of an ongoing collaboration between The Associated Press and FRONTLINE (PBS), which includes an upcoming documentary on the issue.
