Cambodia launches crackdown on scam operations

Cambodia launched a crackdown on scam operations from September 2022, according to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) policy report published in September 2023¹. The stated objective was to close down illegal online scam and fraud operations and secure the release of trafficking victims held in them¹.

The scale of the problem was set out by Cambodian officials. The Interior Minister and a Secretary of State stated that an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people had come to Cambodia to "work" in "illegal gambling"¹. The UNODC report describes trafficking for forced criminality as a growing trend in Special Economic Zones and other areas of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar, as well as in destination countries including Malaysia and the Philippines¹. The International Organization for Migration estimated that "tens of thousands" of people had been trafficked for forced criminality in the special economic zones of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar¹.

The report records releases and repatriations linked to the region's scam compounds:

• More than 600 Vietnamese nationals who were lured to Cambodia and trafficked for forced criminality were repatriated¹.
• In May 2023, more than 1,000 trafficking victims were identified by authorities in the Philippines from just one scam compound in the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, and 2,700 people presumed to be trafficking victims were identified and released in the metropolitan Manila area¹.

The report says the criminal groups behind the compounds operate openly, with links to legal and illegal entertainment establishments such as casinos, hotels and registered companies¹. It cites UNODC's estimate that by the end of 2021 there were more than 340 licensed and non-licensed casinos in the region, alongside 45 in Macau SAR and 17 in the Republic of Korea¹. It also estimates that around 20 significant casinos operate in the border areas it examines, most in Special Regions 1 and 4¹.

The report notes that in Southeast Asia only Malaysia has incorporated exploitation in criminal activities into its domestic legislation¹. It says international NGOs have identified over 40 nationalities of trafficking victims in scam compounds in the region, with early victims mostly from Hong Kong, China; Malaysia; China; Indonesia; the Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; Taiwan; and Viet Nam¹.

What it means for players

The crackdown described in the report concerns illegal online scam and fraud operations, not licensed gambling. The report does not say that licensed casinos in Cambodia were targeted, and it does not report any change to the rules for people who gamble at licensed venues. What it does describe is a large forced-labor economy running through compound-like buildings, some attached to casinos and hotels, where workers were held and made to run online scams¹. For anyone in Cambodia, including expats and visitors, that is the context in which some online gambling and job offers circulate. The report does not give figures for how many scam operations were closed or how many people were freed in Cambodia specifically, and no such totals have been reported¹.

What happens next

The report is dated September 2023 and describes the crackdown as having started in September 2022¹. It does not set out a timetable for further action in Cambodia, and no completion date or target for the crackdown is given¹. The report's policy recommendations concern victim identification, protection, repatriation, prosecution and regional cooperation, but it does not state which of them Cambodia has committed to¹.

For background on the areas where these compounds operate, see Where Scam Compounds Are: Border Towns and Zones in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and the Philippines and Gambling Scams and Safety in Asia. For the rules that apply to ordinary players, see Can I Gamble in Cambodia? and Can I Play at Online Casinos in Cambodia?.