The government approved a draft law that will hand down harsh sentences against fraudsters running cyberscam operations, a minister said.
Cambodia has emerged as a hotspot for crime syndicates running a multibillion-dollar fraud industry that sees scammers lure Internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.
Largely concentrated in South-East Asia, the global cyberscam industry has reached “industrial proportions”, with estimates of its annual revenues as high as US$64bil (RM251bil), according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
Some of the hundreds of thousands of people carrying out scams in the region are trafficked and held against their will, while others work voluntarily.
The draft law – which aims to stamp out transnational cyberscam operations – was approved during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hun Manet, Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said.
He said the draft Bill, which will be sent to parliament soon for approval, would “eliminate online scams from Cambodian territory”.
Lawmakers from the ruling party dominate both houses of parliament, so the draft law is expected to pass easily.
“Cambodia is not a paradise or a safe haven for criminals,” Neth Pheaktra said, adding that the government’s crackdown on scammers will continue.
Ringleaders of cyberscam centres will face between five and 10 year imprisonment and a fine of up to one billion riels (RM965,025) under the new law.
They will face 10 to 20 years and a fine of up to two billion riels (RM1.9mil) if their operations are found to involve violence, torture, confinement, human trafficking, or forced labour, according to the draft law seen by AFP.
Cyberscam bosses will face 15 to 30 years or life imprisonment if their activities lead to one or more deaths, the draft law said.
For lower-level fraudsters, cyberscamming is punishable by five to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to one billion riels if it is committed by an organised group and with many victims, it said.
Last month, Hun Manet said in a rare interview that scam centres were destroying his country’s economy and giving the nation a bad name, vowing to “clean this out”.
A 2024 report by the United States Institute of Peace estimated the return on cyberscamming in Cambodia to exceed US$12.5bil (RM49bil) annually – half the country’s formal GDP – but Hun Manet denied the country was dependent on scams. — AFP
