NovCambodia News
Cambodia expands its crackdown on online scam operations
The first figures released in mid-August covered the period from July 2025 through 31 July 2026. Cambodia’s anti-scam commission said authorities had investigated 751 suspected locations and sealed or shut 605 of them. The same campaign included inspections of all 195 licensed casinos in the country.
A broader update followed after a 27 August briefing. Officials said the cumulative count had risen to 793 suspected locations inspected and 624 sites where crackdowns had taken place through 20 August. Those numbers describe the scale of enforcement; they do not, on their own, establish that every network or location previously associated with scam activity has permanently disappeared.
The official totals changed as the reporting period widened
The 17–18 August figures listed 605 sealed or closed sites out of 751 investigated. They also said 20 casino licences had been revoked, 29 suspended, and another 23 had expired or belonged to casinos that ceased operating.
By 28 August, the government’s published tally had moved to 793 suspected locations inspected and 624 sites subject to enforcement between July 2025 and 20 August 2026. Officials also said nearly 30,000 suspects from 39 nationalities had been detained over that broader period.
Casino enforcement figures require extra caution because later official reporting does not match the earlier totals. A government report published on 8 September referred to 18 revoked casino licences and nine suspended pending further investigation, compared with the August figures of 20 and 29. The public reports reviewed for this article do not explain the change, so the two sets of numbers should not be added together or treated as one continuous series.
“No large compounds” is narrower than “no scam activity”
At the 27 August briefing, Cambodian officials said large-scale online scam compounds had been eliminated. That is the government’s assessment of the campaign, not an independently established finding that scam activity has ended nationwide.
Associated Press and Cambodianess reported caution from outside observers. Some acknowledged that major compounds had closed and trafficking-related calls had fallen, while also pointing to indications that recruitment and smaller operations continued. Amnesty International had documented evasion and relocation by some compounds earlier in 2026; that research predates the expanded August operations and cannot establish the status of every location in September.
Subsequent government data also shows that enforcement remained active. On 6 September, AKP reported a cumulative figure of 663 dismantled locations and said investigations were continuing. On 15 September, the Ministry of Interior published its August results separately: 85 remaining small-scale scam locations had been dismantled and 1,255 suspects of 13 nationalities detained. That does not necessarily conflict with the claim about large compounds, but it does show that smaller operations were still being found and targeted.
What this means for residents, tenants and property owners
For a family or long-term resident choosing where to live, the useful takeaway is not a countrywide label of “safe” or “unsafe.” The more concrete change is intensified enforcement at specific premises and a shift from high-profile compounds toward smaller, dispersed locations. A neighbourhood’s past reputation should therefore be checked against current conditions rather than automatically applied to an entire city.
The campaign also reaches beyond the people alleged to be running scams. The Interior Ministry’s September report described thousands of administrative inspections and fines imposed on owners and managers for breaches of rules governing safety and the accommodation of foreign nationals. That does not make every nearby landlord responsible for criminal activity, but it does raise the practical importance of knowing who operates a property, how it is being used and whether the relevant occupancy and management rules are being followed.
For a specific purchase, lease, hotel, casino or commercial premises, the national statistics are useful context rather than a substitute for checking the current status of that place and its operator. The government’s statement that large compounds had been dismantled should not be read as proof that smaller scam groups or related financial and compliance risks have disappeared completely.
Sources
- Agence Kampuchea Presse — “751 Cyber Scam Sites Uncovered, Hundreds Shut Down in 12-Month Operation” — 17 August 2026.
- Agence Kampuchea Presse — “Feature Report: Breaking the Chain – Cambodia’s Determined Fight Against Online Scam Networks” — 18 August 2026.
- Agence Kampuchea Presse — “Cambodia Clears 624 Online Scam Sites, Says No Scam Compounds Remain” — 28 August 2026.
- Associated Press — “Cambodia claims it has wiped out online scam compounds after a sweeping crackdown” — 28 August 2026.
- Cambodianess — “Cambodia Declares Large-Scale Scam Compounds Dismantled” — 29 August 2026.
- Agence Kampuchea Presse — “Cambodia’s Firm Enforcement Action: Licences of 18 Casinos Involved in Online Scams Revoked” — 8 September 2026.
- Ministry of Interior of Cambodia — “Authorities Cracked Down on 85 Small-Scale Online Scam Locations and Apprehended over 1,000 Suspects in August” — 15 September 2026.