Cambodia expands cyber scam probe to networks behind fraud
Cambodian investigators are tracing financial networks and gathering evidence against suspected masterminds as scrutiny grows over the reach of the crackdown.
- Cambodia is expanding its cyber fraud investigation beyond raiding scam compounds to target the high-level individuals and networks who direct, enable, or protect the operations.
- A key focus of the expanded probe is the financial network of the Prince Group conglomerate, whose founder has been arrested and deported to China in connection with the scams.
- This strategic shift comes as analysts report that many large-scale scam operations and their support networks remain active despite a year-long government crackdown.
- Officials state that successfully prosecuting senior figures requires extensive evidence-gathering and international cooperation, which they are actively seeking.
Cambodia is extending its fight against cyber fraud beyond scam compounds to people suspected of directing, enabling or protecting the operations, with investigators gathering evidence that could support legal action against figures higher up the networks.
The effort comes as scrutiny continues over a year-long crackdown that the government says has eliminated large-scale scam compounds.
Although Chhay Sinarith, Cambodia's anti-scam minister, made that declaration last month, authorities have not published a complete list of the locations raided, while analysts question whether senior figures and those protecting the industry have been affected.
John Wojcik, a senior analyst at blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, said some major operations had survived the crackdown even as others changed the way they operated.
“It's clear that many large compounds remain active despite other operators clearing out and dispersing into smaller, decentralised sites,” Wojcik said.
“The technology, payment rails, money-laundering networks and facilitators underpinning the industry also continue to operate at scale.”
Authorities are meanwhile examining the financial network surrounding Prince Group, a Cambodia-based conglomerate that the United States alleges was used as a front for multi-billion-dollar online fraud and money-laundering operations.
Chhay said the investigation into the group's financial links was being expanded.
Prince Group's Chinese-born founder, Chen Zhi, was arrested and deported from Cambodia to China earlier this year.
The scale of the alleged operations was highlighted during a media visit to two sites outside Phnom Penh that Cambodian authorities said were Prince Group scam centres.
Officials said the vast facilities had housed thousands of workers, while one contained a fake Singaporean police station allegedly used to carry out impersonation fraud.
Lawyers for Prince Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cambodia's scam industry forms part of a wider problem across Southeast Asia that expanded after the pandemic.
Industrial-scale compounds have been linked to the trafficking of workers who are detained in grim conditions and forced to defraud people online.
According to the United States, scam compounds across the region stole US$10 billion from Americans in 2024 alone.
The issue brought representatives from more than a dozen countries, including the United States and China, to Phnom Penh this week for a global anti-scam conference.
Discussions focused on tackling an industry that has harmed Cambodia's reputation and economy.
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the conference on Thursday (September 24), Chhay, who heads a government commission on combating fraud, said authorities could not proceed against suspected senior figures without first building sufficient cases.
“Whether it involves the mastermind, the co-conspirator, owner, enabler or protector, it requires time, and also it requires evidence,” he said.
Chhay said cooperation with other countries was essential, noting that information supplied by international partners had already allowed Cambodian authorities to act against some suspects.
“That's why it is of utmost importance for us to cooperate,” he said, warning that disclosing details of ongoing investigations prematurely could give suspects an opportunity to flee.
Source: Reuters
