After the raids, Asia’s billion-dollar scam trade flickers back

FILE PHOTO: A private room where managers overseeing scam operations stayed, is amid debris inside a compound in O'Smach used for scam operations, at the Chong Chom-O'Smach border crossing, which was bombed and occupied by the Thai military in December following clashes between Thailand and Cambodia along a disputed border area, in Samraong, Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, February 2, 2026. - Reuters

PHNOM PENH: After only four months in Cambodia, Chen Xian Jin reckons he can spot a scam manager when he sees one. Unlike other Chinese businessmen, they avoid flashy cars and jewelry and keep a low profile.

They come, at dusk, to the food stall Chen runs with his brother in Phnom Penh. Chen also runs deliveries, and despite the recent scam centre crackdowns, he’s still sending plastic bags of pork and rice to his regular customers in the high building at the end of the street where the lights stay on at night.