Cambodian scam victims’ details found inside compound reveal reach of cyber gangs

In a Cambodian compound with rooms designed to look like Singaporean and Australian police offices, papers were strewn across desks and floors: the ‌detritus of a fraud factory abandoned in haste.Among the documents were profiles of a 73-year-old Japanese retiree, complete with his phone number and bank account balance, and an American woman who disclosed that she was a victim ‍of domestic abuse.Nearby were scripts to commit love scams and impersonate police, as well as a room set up to resemble a Vietnamese bank office.This is what was found on Monday inside a bombed-out compound near the Thai-Cambodian border, which offers one of the clearest windows yet into the industrial-scale fraud that has fleeced billions of dollars from victims globally.Scripts for scam dialogues are pasted inside a booth lined with acoustic foam that was used to make scam calls to victims. Photo: ReutersPolice raids and military air strikes have forced criminal gangs to flee scores of scam compounds in Cambodia in recent weeks. The visit to the site, known as Royal Hill, was organised by the Thai military, which bombed it during a brief border conflict in December ⁠and has since occupied the surrounding area.