Judge Cambodia’s scam crackdown fairly on the evidence

September 22, 2026

Letter to the Editor: Cambodia’s campaign against online scams

Mu Sochua’s September 22 op-ed, “Cambodia’s anti-scam summit can’t whitewash its own record,” does not reflect Cambodia’s current efforts to combat online scams.

Cambodia does not claim to have eliminated all scam operations. Some smaller, less visible scam activity remains. However, authorities have dismantled the large scam compounds that once operated openly. We are now targeting the criminal networks behind them.

Since July 2025, Cambodian authorities have investigated 832 locations suspected of housing online scam operations and carried out operations at 663 of them. Eighty-six scam compounds have been dismantled. We have sent 446 cases involving 3,927 people from 29 nationalities to the courts, including alleged ringleaders. 

The Anti-Corruption Unit has acted in four cases involving 15 senior officials and law enforcement officers. Authorities have frozen more than US$300 million in scam-linked bank accounts.

It is inaccurate to suggest that Cambodia’s response is limited to closing compounds and deportations, or that influential individuals are shielded from accountability. Cambodia’s Law on Combating Online Scams, enacted in April, gives authorities stronger powers to pursue those who organize or support these crimes. No one is above the law.

The International Conference on Combating Online Scams (ICCOS 2026) in Phnom Penh this week is not an exercise in image management. Representatives from the FBI, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, ASEAN and the UK Home Office, along with ministers and law enforcement officials from Asia and other regions, are gathering to strengthen international cooperation. 

The goal is to help affected countries pursue the criminals behind these networks and follow illicit money across borders, reducing the risk that operations shut down in Cambodia simply re-emerge elsewhere.

Cambodia has also invited international journalists to visit former scam compounds, question officials, and assess our progress. We are not seeking uncritical endorsement. We ask that Cambodia’s current record be judged fairly on the evidence.