Cambodia is gathering evidence against suspected masterminds behind large-scale cyber fraud operations, the country’s anti-scam minister said, as critics question whether the government’s crackdown has reached the senior figures and networks responsible for the industry.
Chhay Sinarith, who heads a government commission combating fraud, said legal action against masterminds, co-conspirators, owners, enablers or protectors required both time and evidence. “Legal action, whether it involves the mastermind, the co-conspirator, owner, enabler or protector, it requires time and also it requires evidence,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of a global anti-scam conference in Phnom Penh on Thursday.
Chhay said cooperation with international partners was helping Cambodian authorities act against suspects. He added that information supplied by foreign partners had enabled action against some individuals, while premature disclosure of investigations could allow suspects to flee. Cambodia hosted representatives from more than a dozen countries, including the United States and China, at the conference this week to discuss efforts against an industry that has damaged the country’s reputation and economy.
Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries became major centres for industrial-scale scam operations after the pandemic. Workers have been trafficked, held in harsh conditions and forced to defraud people online. The United States has said scam compounds in the region stole $10 billion from Americans alone in 2024.
Chhay declared last month that Cambodia had eradicated large-scale scam compounds following a year-long crackdown, although authorities have not published a complete list of the sites they raided. Analysts have disputed the government’s assessment, saying the campaign has failed to remove some senior figures and people who protect the industry.
“It’s clear that many large compounds remain active despite other operators clearing out and dispersing into smaller, decentralized 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 Cambodian authorities were expanding their investigation into the financial network of Prince Group, a Cambodia-based conglomerate that the United States 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.
Reuters reporters toured two facilities outside Phnom Penh that Cambodian authorities identified as scam centres belonging to Prince Group. Officials said the vast complexes had housed thousands of workers. One of the facilities contained a fake Singaporean police station that authorities said was allegedly used in impersonation fraud.
Lawyers for Prince Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
