Cambodia no ‘safe haven’ for scams, prime minister tells anti-fraud summit

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet declared during the opening of a global conference on cyberfraud that his country would not be a safe haven for transnational scam syndicates. Delivered in Phnom Penh, his remarks came as delegates from over a dozen nations, including the United States and China, gathered for the event. Hun Manet emphasized that Cambodia would not permit criminal organizations to jeopardize the nation's advancement or the livelihoods of more than 17 million people.

He added that Cambodia supports increased international cooperation, particularly real-time intelligence sharing. However, the claim that Cambodian authorities have completely dismantled industrial-scale scam centers has been met with skepticism by some analysts. Critics argue that raids have left high-level figures unscathed, while others contend that criminal groups have responded by fragmenting into smaller units and relocating operations abroad.

The conference signifies a growing willingness to cooperate in combating online scams, according to Delphine Schantz, the regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Schantz noted that while progress has been made, more needs to be done at both the national and international levels, including the establishment of coherent regulatory frameworks and investment in digital evidence collection.

In recent years, Southeast Asian nations, including Cambodia, have become hubs for the transnational cyberscam industry, primarily driven by Chinese-led criminal gangs. Police have recently dismantled sprawling centers housing up to 20,000 workers, seizing materials such as fake FBI and Chinese police badges used in impersonation schemes.

The Cambodian government claims to have raided hundreds of compounds and deported hundreds of thousands of people in the past year, in response to pressure from countries like the United States, which estimates Americans lost over $10 billion to scammers operating in the region in 2024 alone.

Despite these efforts, analysts and opposition figures question the effectiveness of the crackdown, citing allegations that politically connected figures involved in the networks have remained untouchable while the criminal groups have adapted by breaking into smaller units and shifting operations overseas. Mu Sochua, an exiled opposition politician, warned that the credibility of the crackdown depends on the Cambodian state's willingness to investigate all credible allegations, regardless of wealth, influence, or official position.