Cambodia’s booming scam industry

Nathan was promised a job in customer service in Thailand. Instead, he found himself in Cambodia, being ordered to defraud strangers online and beaten for refusing. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

AROUND the world, reports of cyberscam schemes targeting unsuspecting victims online have proliferated rapidly.

South-East Asia has become a centre of gravity for those criminal syndicates, often in remote and war-torn corners. But in Cambodia, the scam industry has been flourishing well within the reach of officials.