Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet has lamented the lack of progress in restoring the reputation of a country that has been dogged by allegations of scam centres.
Manet warned that Cambodia is locked in a ‘war to restore reputation’ after allegations left it being portrayed as the centre of Southeast Asia’s scam network.
Speaking during a business conference, he stated: “Online scams are not only a new form of transnational crime, but also create an informal or grey economy that seriously affects Cambodia’s reputation and public trust. Therefore, Cambodia will continue to fight against them.”
Earlier this year, Amnesty International accused the Cambodian government of ‘deliberately ignoring a litany of human rights abuses’ related to a vast network of scam centres located in the country.
The human rights group also targeted the Cambodia Commercial Gambling Management Commission (CGMC), which it said has approved plans for 12 casinos since December 2025, which have been linked to torture, human trafficking and child labour.
Scam centres in Cambodia have been accused of defrauding victims around the world out of billions of dollars, and have drawn sanctions from governments including the UK and US.
Alongside targeting victims, it has also been found that the criminal networks behind the centres lure people to work through fake job advertisements before forcing them to take part in the scams.
In response to the accusations, Cambodia has passed its first cybercrime law dedicated to targeting the perpetrators of online scams and also launched a wide-scale directive to shut down scam centres.
Manet emphasised that scam centres still represent one of the biggest challenges facing Cambodia and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to dismantling online fraud networks.
Earlier in the year, a total of 91 casinos accused of supporting online fraud networks were closed down, just days after China demanded tougher action on cross-border gambling.
According to reports from the Xinhua News Agency, Phnom Penh has also raided 250 online scam centres in the past nine months and deported over 13,000 foreign nationals linked to online scam operations.
Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister, visited the Cambodian Prime Minister last Wednesday in April and urged Manet and his government to take stronger action against cross-border gambling and online fraud – describing them as an issue of public safety.
Alongside online fraud, Cambodia has been cracking down on its wider gambling sector, intensifying enforcement in the sector. According to reports from The Bangkok Post, the government has blocked 31 websites, including Patreon and Discord, because they have been found to be hosting illicit content and gambling operations.
