Cambodia Cracks Down on Scam Centers

0:00What's up, Sydney? This is Sydney News Today, bringing you the city's fastest updates on what is happening now. Cambodia plans to shut down every one of its notorious online scam centers by the end of next month. The leader of the nation's cybercrime task force says police will launch ongoing suppression raids after April to keep these operations from. Restarting, in the current crackdown, officials have opened 79 legal cases against 697 suspects tied to the scams. They've repatriated nearly 10,000 workers from 23 countries, leaving just under 1,000 awaiting return. Experts remain skeptical about lasting success. Past efforts failed to dismantle the financial backers or elite protectors, allowing quick rebounds. These scams have defrauded victims of tens of billions of dollars yearly and fuel human trafficking of forced laborers. Meanwhile, authorities displayed seized items from recent raids, like fake police uniforms and IDs used to impersonate officers and scare targets.

1:00Cambodia coordinates closely with China and the United States to tackle the issue. The scams began small around 2012, using disguised phone calls, then exploded during the pandemic as casinos pivoted to fraud. Today, similar centers operate worldwide, from Southeast Asia to Africa and Latin America. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor, see the episode description, your pillow, your podcast, your moment, made for listening in bed, S-O-L-I-SoliPillo.com.