Cambodia’s efforts to dismantle online scam operations have come under scrutiny following a recent Amnesty International report that alleged many identified scam compounds remained operational despite months of enforcement efforts. The Cambodian government has rejected the findings, arguing that its crackdown has resulted in arrests, prosecutions, deportations and action against casino licences.
The report, Falling Through the Cracks: Cambodia’s “Crackdown” on Scamming Compounds and the Victims It Has Failed, was released on 8 June and drew a government response two days later, with Cambodian authorities defending the campaign’s results and highlighting arrests, prosecutions, deportations and action against casino licences.
Amnesty challenges crackdown results
In July 2025, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet issued a nine-point directive directing government agencies, law enforcement authorities, courts and the Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC) to strengthen action against online scam operations.
According to Amnesty International, the government later claimed to have shuttered more than 250 scam centres, opened criminal cases against 1,089 suspects and deported 13,039 foreign nationals involved in online scams.
However, Amnesty’s latest report argues that the results on the ground do not fully support those claims.
The organisation said it identified 86 scam compounds across Cambodia as of the end of April 2026, up from 53 sites identified in its June 2025 report. Of those 86 compounds, Amnesty said it found evidence of state intervention at only 24 locations. It also documented mass releases or escapes at seven additional compounds where no police presence was reported.
Based on those findings, Amnesty concluded that more than 70 per cent of the compounds it identified appeared to have been bypassed by the crackdown.
“The Cambodian government has carefully managed the optics of its scamming crackdown, but behind every headline about a compound raid or arrest are survivors of slavery, torture and rape left with almost no support,” said Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s Co-Regional Director.
The report covers the period from July 2025 to April 2026 and is based on interviews with 73 survivors from 16 countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Uganda and Venezuela.
Survivors report trafficking and abuse
Amnesty’s research alleges that many of the abuses documented in its previous investigation continued during the crackdown period.
The organisation said all 73 survivors interviewed described experiences involving human trafficking, forced labour, deprivation of liberty and other forms of abuse. Amnesty also documented accounts of sexual violence, with six women reporting rape or other forms of sexual abuse within scam compounds.
The report argues that Cambodian authorities failed to identify or support trafficking victims. Amnesty said none of the 73 survivors interviewed had been officially recognised as victims of human trafficking, despite meeting what it described as the internationally recognised legal definition.
According to the report, many individuals who escaped or were released from compounds ended up sleeping on the streets, relying on non-governmental organisations and local residents for assistance, or being detained in immigration facilities.
One survivor, identified by Amnesty as Winta, described being trafficked from East Africa as a teenager and being moved between compounds during the crackdown to avoid police action. Amnesty used her case to illustrate what it characterised as a pattern of victims being relocated rather than rescued during enforcement operations.
Questions remain over enforcement actions
A central criticism in Amnesty’s report concerns transparency. The organisation said it was unable to independently verify many of the government’s claims because authorities had not publicly released a comprehensive list of sites investigated, compounds shut down or evidence supporting the claim that more than 250 scam centres had been dismantled.
Amnesty also alleged that some interventions appeared reactive rather than proactive, occurring after public pressure, international attention or highly publicised incidents.
The report further cited survivor testimony suggesting that managers at some compounds appeared to receive advance warning of police action. In several cases, survivors alleged that workers were moved to other locations before raids took place.
The organisation said survivor accounts pointed to possible coordination or collusion between compound managers and local authorities, but did not present evidence of broader official involvement.
Experts question long-term impact
Independent experts have also questioned whether enforcement actions have significantly disrupted the networks behind scam compounds. “We’re still understanding most of their crackdowns as being quite performative, where they’re perhaps alerting the key people within the scam centers before a raid, so they’re not actually taking down the key actors,” said Julia Dickson, an associate fellow in the Intelligence, National Security and Technology Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Dickson said scam operations appeared to be adapting to enforcement measures rather than disappearing altogether. “We have seen a lot of movement within Cambodia, perhaps shifting more from these big compounds in border zones to smaller compounds that are harder to track within urban areas or simply relocating elsewhere.”
Stephanie Baroud, a criminal intelligence analyst with Interpol’s Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Unit in Lyon, France, also pointed to signs that scam compounds were fragmenting into smaller operations, including in residential areas.
“Has the crackdown led to an end? It does not appear so,” Baroud said. “The scam centers are still around. They’re popping up in other places.”
Baroud said the closure of individual compounds did not necessarily mean the underlying criminal networks had been dismantled. “Shutting down a scam center does not necessarily entail a dismantling of the infrastructure that is behind it,” she said. “The risk of revictimisation and being trafficked again is there, especially in the context of crackdowns like this.”
Casino-linked properties remain under scrutiny
The report also examined links between scam compounds and Cambodia’s gaming sector. Amnesty noted that scam compounds can operate within larger sites that may also include casinos, hotels and other businesses.
According to the report, an earlier Amnesty investigation identified 12 casinos linked to scam compounds that had received state approval despite the ongoing crackdown. The latest report identified four additional casinos that had submitted plans showing ownership of buildings that Amnesty classified as scam compounds.
The organisation argued that these findings raise questions about regulatory oversight and enforcement within parts of the gaming sector during the anti-scam campaign.
Cambodia rejects criticism
Two days after Amnesty International released its report, Cambodian authorities pushed back against the findings, saying the assessment overlooked the results of the country’s ongoing anti-scam campaign.
Chhay Sinarith, Minister attached to the Prime Minister and Secretary-General of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking and Cyber Scam, said the campaign had produced substantial results and remained ongoing.
According to government data, Cambodian officials said that from July 2025 to 20 May 2026, authorities handled more than 400 online scam cases, with 143 cases involving 1,458 suspects referred to the courts. The suspects included 201 women from 19 countries and regions.
The government also said it had revoked or suspended 25 casino licences as part of the enforcement campaign. Chhay Sinarith argued that describing the crackdown as superficial ignored the extensive efforts undertaken by law enforcement agencies and failed to reflect the realities of combating sophisticated criminal organisations.
Officials said online scam networks are highly adaptive, transnational operations that continuously evolve to evade detection and enforcement.
In a separate statement, a senior government official said Cambodia rejected any suggestion that it was failing to act against online scam syndicates, pointing to ongoing police operations, arrests, asset seizures and the dismantling of criminal compounds across multiple provinces.
The official also emphasised Cambodia’s continued commitment to combating cybercrime and human trafficking through legal reforms, stronger enforcement mechanisms and international cooperation.
Contrasting assessments of the crackdown
The disagreement ultimately reflects two competing assessments of the same campaign. Amnesty argues that while the crackdown may have led to the release of thousands of people and produced some enforcement successes, it failed to dismantle many known compounds, did not adequately protect trafficking victims and lacked sufficient transparency.
Cambodian officials pointed to arrests, legal proceedings, deportations and measures affecting casino licences as evidence of progress, while emphasising that online scam operations are often run by cross-border criminal groups.
The Amnesty International report and the government’s rebuttal present differing assessments of the impact of Cambodia’s anti-scam campaign and the progress made against online scam operations.
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