Overview
- The cabinet approved a draft bill imposing severe penalties on cyberscam operators, including up to life imprisonment for bosses in fatal cases and large fines, with the measure headed to Parliament.
- Police raided a Phnom Penh high-rise office this week, detaining 57 Cambodian suspects and eight Chinese ringleaders as journalists were shown multilingual scripts, Telegram channels and fake IDs used to target Europeans.
- Officials say roughly 80% of 250 suspected sites have been closed since July, with 79 legal cases opened against 697 alleged ringleaders and associates and nearly 10,000 workers repatriated from 23 countries.
- Authorities pledge to shut all remaining scam centres by the end of April and report networks are shifting from large compounds to smaller offices and hotel floors to evade detection.
- Thailand’s military displayed captured border resort areas it says housed scam hubs after December clashes, a claim Cambodia rejects as a pretext for encroachment.