Cambodia Claims Scams Dismantled; U.S. Lawmakers Seek Prosecutions

Cambodia's prime minister announced Wednesday that the country has eradicated the large-scale scam compounds that gained global notoriety, though he provided little new evidence to support the claim. International governments and experts, however, maintain that Cambodia has not done enough to dismantle the criminal industry and have called for prosecutions.

"As a result of our efforts, we have completely dismantled all large-scale scam compounds in the kingdom," Prime Minister Hun Manet stated at a conference on tackling cyberscams, co-hosted by Cambodia with the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and Interpol. "Even as organized syndicates attempt to fragment into smaller decentralized operations, our law enforcement apparatus stays vigilant and ready to dismantle any emerging threats in the system."

Cambodia has previously declared success in combating these operations. In August, the government announced the shutdown of hundreds of scam compounds. Hun Manet reiterated at the recent conference that international cooperation is essential to tackle the issue.

While acknowledging that many compounds appear to have been shut down, experts contend that the Cambodian government has done insufficient work to dismantle the criminal organizations behind these operations. They also point to a lack of investigation and prosecution of Cambodian business and political elites allegedly protecting and profiting from these enterprises.

"The Cambodian government has indeed closed most of the large compounds, but it has done comparably little to dismantle the criminal organizations running those cyberscam operations or to investigate and punish Cambodian business and political elites who protected and profited from these criminal enterprises," said Mark Taylor, an anti-trafficking consultant and former head of an anti-trafficking program in Cambodia.

Concerns about Cambodia's alleged links to scam center operations have prompted some U.S. lawmakers to consider sanctions. U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is among those who have called for potential sanctions against key Cambodian political figures, including a deputy prime minister, over their alleged involvement.

Cyberscam operations surged globally, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Victims have reportedly lost tens of billions of dollars to these scams, which are carried out by hundreds of thousands of individuals often forced into participation. Southeast Asia, in particular, has seen a significant proliferation of these scam compounds in regions where law enforcement has been historically weak. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime estimated in July that combined losses from such scams could range from $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion by 2025.