PHNOM PENH (AFP: More than 400 Indonesians were freed by cyberscam networks in Cambodia this month, Jakarta said on Monday, after Phnom Penh announced a fresh crackdown following the arrest of an alleged boss of the illicit industry.
Scammers working from hubs across Southeast Asia, some willingly and others trafficked, lure internet users globally into fake romances and cryptocurrency investments, netting tens of billions of dollars each year.
Hundreds of foreign nationals have left suspected scam compounds across Cambodia this month as the government pledged to "eliminate" problems related to the online fraud trade, which the United Nations says employs at least 100,000 people in Cambodia alone.
Recent Cambodian law enforcement measures resulted in "many online scam syndicates... letting their workers go", Indonesia's ambassador to Cambodia, Santo Darmosumarto, said in a video posted to social media.
From January 1-18, 440 Indonesians came to the embassy in Phnom Penh after they were "released by online scam syndicates", many seeking to return home, according to a post on Instagram.
"Because Cambodia's crackdown will continue, the embassy predicts many more will flow in from the provinces," Santo said.
Some who went to the embassy were "involved in online scams for years, some only arrived in Cambodia a few months ago", he said.
"Some still hold their passports, while others had their passports confiscated by the syndicates; some have overstayed, while others still have valid residence permits in Cambodia" and hoped to "find other work".
Santo said the embassy would expedite repatriations but all Indonesians were "being directed to return home independently", and warned against getting involved in criminal activity abroad.
- 'Chinese boss' -
Dozens of people, some with suitcases, lined up outside the Indonesian embassy on Monday morning.
An 18-year-old from Indonesia's Sumatra said he fled a compound in Bavet city, near Cambodia's border with Vietnam, where he was forced to scam people online for eight months without pay despite being promised $600 per month.
He told AFP he arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday and came to the embassy to ask for a new passport because his was "with a Chinese boss".
"They heard police were coming inside the compound, so they let everyone go," he said.
About 100 people were also queueing outside the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh on Monday afternoon, but those approached by AFP declined to speak.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing "attaches great importance to the safety of Chinese citizens overseas" when asked at a regular news briefing about the lines outside the embassy in Cambodia.
Cambodia arrested and deported Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi, accused of running internet scam operations from Cambodia, to China this month.
Chen, a former Cambodian government adviser, was indicted by US authorities in October. -- AFP
