Cambodia announces plans for new law targeting cyberscammers

Details: Vaughan O'Grady; Category: Cybersecurity; 16 March 2026; 8047 views

Cambodia's government approved a draft law late last week targeting fraudsters running cyberscam operations and promises to shut down such operations completely by April. But previous crackdowns against online scam centres have not eliminated the problem. Will this one?

Cambodia is one of a number of countries that is home to a multibillion-dollar fraud industry concentrated in Southeast Asia involving romance and cryptocurrency scams.

The draft law aims to stamp out transnational cyberscam operations and eliminate online scams from Cambodian territory. Indeed, Chhay Sinarith, a senior minister on the government's anti-cyberscam commission, told AFP last week that his country hoped to close all online scam centres by the end of April.

Hefty fines and lengthy imprisonments are promised, increasing in severity if cyberscam operations are found to involve violence, torture, confinement, human trafficking or forced labour, as some reportedly do. Cyberscam bosses will face 15 to 30 years or life imprisonment if their activities lead to one or more deaths.

After a government crackdown that began last July, authorities say they have shut down 80% of locations believed to be carrying out online scams. More than 200,000 people have fled scam sites and left Cambodia, and that the country has deported around 10,000 foreign nationals.

However, restrictions on independent reporting make the government's claims difficult to verify. In addition, Australia’s ABC News service quotes an analyst who has expressed scepticism given what they call the involvement of "key perpetrators among the Cambodian ruling elite".

ABC says that illicit activity began in Cambodia 2012, and grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, when casinos in particular no longer had in-person customers and turned to online scams. However, scam centres are today present in many countries around the world.