Cambodia’s claim to have ended scam compounds met with scepticism

Cambodia’s claim of eradicating its scam compounds met with scepticism from Amnesty International and industry experts.Cambodia says it no longer hosts any of the scam compounds that made the country a global hub for cybercrime, as rights groups and analysts cautioned that the claim cannot be independently verified.According to a statement released on Friday, Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, who heads the government’s ad hoc Commission for Combating Online Scams, told 50 foreign diplomats and international officials on Thursday that “large-scale scam activities have been brought fully under control, and there are currently no online scam compounds remaining in the country”.Recommended Stories list of 2 itemslist 1 of 2US sanctions Cambodian senator over purported scam network linkslist 2 of 2Hun Manet is refining Cambodia’s authoritarian modelend of listThe statement said the achievement follows “the complete eradication of large-scale online scam operations, strict legal actions against perpetrators, networks and involved officials, alongside the systematic establishment of a cybersecurity legal framework”.However, the statement acknowledged that criminal groups have shifted to decentralised operations – hiding in guesthouses, condominiums, rental houses, vehicles and coffee shops – which authorities said they will continue to target.The compounds, largely run by Chinese criminal syndicates, have proliferated across Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and Myanmar-Thai border areas since the pandemic. Reuters news agency said it has not independently confirmed the eradication claim.Amnesty International’s co-regional director, Montse Ferrer, said the rights group is “highly skeptical of suggestions the scamming compound industry has been effectively eliminated”, adding: “The true test of long-term success is not how many compounds have closed, but whether the actors responsible have been investigated, prosecuted and prevented from resuming operations.”