Cambodia forms national-level commission on combating online scams

Cambodia elevated its command structure on online scams to a national-level commission under the direct leadership of Prime Minister Hun Manet in February 2025, he said at the opening of the International Conference on Combating Online Scams (ICCOS-2026) in Phnom Penh on September 23, 2026¹. Officials from more than 27 countries and international organizations attended the two-day event¹.

Hun Manet said the commission was part of a campaign to "uproot these networks entirely," and that Cambodia had enacted a law on combating online scams in April 2026 to close legal loopholes¹. He said large-scale scam compounds in the country had been "completely dismantled," while warning that syndicates were fragmenting into smaller operations¹.

The prime minister linked Cambodia's early exposure to online scams to the growth of online gambling and casino-related businesses, saying international syndicates exploited commercial properties, regulatory gaps and cross-border telecommunications networks¹. He said the crimes were a post-COVID-19 phenomenon and that Cambodia would not be a safe haven for them¹.

He also said Cambodia became a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime in 2025 and is developing a cybersecurity law, a cybercrime law and frameworks governing virtual assets¹. He credited partners including China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, ASEAN member states, UNODC, Interpol and IOM¹.

The announcement did not include the commission's membership, its powers, its budget or the number of cases it has handled. Those details have not been reported¹.

What it means for players

Cambodia's legal gambling market runs through licensed casinos and a regulated online betting framework, while unlicensed online operators and scam compounds have operated alongside it. The prime minister's own account ties the country's scam problem to the growth of online gambling and casino-related businesses, which is the part of the story that touches players directly¹.

For anyone gambling in Cambodia, the practical effect of a national-level commission is on enforcement rather than on rules for licensed play. The commission sits under the prime minister, and the government says it treats enforcement as a standing national security obligation rather than a public relations campaign¹. What that means for licensing decisions, for the treatment of unlicensed sites, or for players who used them has not been reported¹.

The government says large-scale scam compounds have been dismantled and that remaining operations are fragmenting into smaller, decentralized groups¹. It has not said how that affects the availability or reliability of offshore sites that accept Cambodian players. Background on how fake sites and compounds work is in our guide to gambling scams and safety in Asia, with country detail in fake casino sites and gambling scams in Cambodia.

What happens next

Cambodia says it is accelerating work on a cybersecurity law, a cybercrime law and frameworks for virtual assets, none of which have been enacted on the dates given¹. No timetable for those bills has been reported¹.