Fraudsters flee Cambodia’s ‘scam city’

SIHANOUKVILLE (AFP) — Hundreds of people dragged away suitcases, computer monitors, pets and furniture as they fled a suspected Cambodian cyberfraud center, after the country’s most wanted alleged scam kingpin was arrested and deported.

Boarding tuk-tuks, Lexus SUVs and tourist coaches, an exodus departed Amber Casino in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, one of the illicit trade’s most notorious hubs.

“Cambodia is in upheaval,” one Chinese man told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Nowhere is safe to work anymore,” he said Thursday.

Similar scenes played out at alleged scam compounds across Cambodia this week as the government said it was cracking down on the multibillion-dollar industry.

But residents said many of the people working inside the tightly secured buildings moved out several days before the arrival of authorities, and an analyst dubbed it “anti-crime theater.”

From hubs across Southeast Asia, scammers lure internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.

Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, transnational crime groups have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal tens of billions annually from victims around the world.

Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, sometimes trafficked foreign nationals who have been trapped and forced to work under threat of violence.

Few of those departing the casinos, hotels and other facilities were willing to speak with AFP.