Amnesty International reports that dozens of scam compounds in Cambodia remain active, with government interventions at only 24 of 86 sites, citing collusion and inadequate victim protection.
A new report from Amnesty International reveals that dozens of suspected global scam compounds in Cambodia are still operational despite months of government crackdown. The UK-based human rights group published a 176-page report on Monday, June 8, highlighting that out of 86 identified scam centers, authorities have intervened at only 24 locations.
Many of these interventions were described as reactive, ineffective, or undermined by apparent collusion between compound managers and police. Survivors reported being moved across the country mid-crackdown to evade authorities. The compounds, predominantly run by Chinese criminal gangs, house tens of thousands of workers, many of whom are trafficked and endure brutal conditions. These operations have proliferated across Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, and lawless areas along the Myanmar-Thai border since the pandemic.
Reuters journalists who visited abandoned or seized scam centers in Cambodia and interviewed those involved found evidence of abuse and industrial-scale fraud that has fleeced billions of dollars from victims worldwide. The Cambodian government has faced pressure from foreign governments, including the US, to crack down on these operations. US estimates indicate that Americans lost approximately $10 billion to Southeast Asian scam centers in 2024.
Amnesty International researchers interviewed 73 individuals who had been held against their will in these compounds; all reported experiencing or witnessing abuse, including six women who described being raped. The group criticized authorities for treating people fleeing or released from scam compounds as irregular migrants rather than victims of human trafficking.
The report concluded that Cambodia's crackdown has failed in key areas, both in investigating and shuttering some of the most well-known compounds and in protecting and assisting victims who escaped or were removed from the compounds. In response, senior minister Chhay Sinarith, who is in charge of combating online scams, rejected the report's implications, calling it selective, one-sided, and lacking full understanding of the realities on the ground.
He emphasized that the government has engaged in coordinated police operations, arrests, asset seizures, and dismantling of criminal compounds across multiple provinces. Cambodia has revoked licenses of 25 casinos suspected of involvement in scams, with nearly 1,500 suspects from 19 countries charged. The government statement acknowledged that tackling scam centers is difficult because the criminal networks are transnational, highly adaptive, and deliberately designed to evade law enforcement.
The issue remains a significant challenge for Cambodia and the region, as these operations continue to exploit vulnerable individuals and generate vast illicit profits
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