Cambodia: More actions needed to take down elite syndicates and dismantle systematic online scams, experts urge; foreign companies are wary of crisis
"Experts Urge Cambodia to Target “Elite-linked” Kingpins in Online Scam Crackdown", 7 February 2026
To be effective in its “elimination” of the scam operations that are plaguing Cambodia, authorities need to weed out the masterminds behind the online fraud hubs and their web of associated crimes, a panel of experts said.
During a webinar hosted by US think-tank, Stimson Centre, …, ‘Cracking Down on Scam Compounds in Southeast Asia’, Jacob Sims, visiting fellow at Asia Centre, Harvard University, said tackling the issue effectively requires netting the kingpins behind the operations…
“One thing that’s inarguably not a trope is the profound, durable, sustained involvement and entanglement of local elites in Cambodia,” Sims said, adding that to “address it [scam centres] effectively” involves netting the masterminds, regardless of status.
Sims welcomed Cambodia’s recent strengthened crackdown on scam centres, calling it a “material divergence” from previous efforts and pledges, which appeared “performative surface level”. “This is real,” he said. “There's real disruption that's happening here.”…
Brett Blackshaw, Senior Advisor for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US Department of State, said the scale of harm to foreign citizens has forced the US and other governments, including the UK and South Korea, to take strong action…
Blackshaw also highlighted the scale of human trafficking linked to scam operations. “There's the mammoth scale of the human trafficking tragedy, with an estimated over 400,000 people. It's a staggering number from at least 70 countries who have been victims of this.”…
Blackshaw said the US has taken multiple legal and financial measures, citing Zhi and 146 individuals linked to the Prince Group, as well as the seizure of $15 billion in Bitcoin. In addition, the US has launched a taskforce to work on joint investigations in the region.
“We want to do a lot more than Chen Zhi and the actions against Prince Group and Huione. We want that to just be the beginning, and for the message to be clear: if you try to go after Americans with this kind of criminal fraud, there are going to be consequences,” Blackshaw warned.
Economic impacts
“The real economic effects are here,” Bradley Murg, Senior Advisor at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said, noting that during the past six months major US companies have been “fairly consistent” in refusing to do business with Cambodia until the scam issue is resolved.
He said the online scam crisis is creating uncertainty among foreign investors and affecting Cambodia’s economic growth. “This [scam centres] is scaring off American firms, Japanese firms, Chinese firms, South Korean firms,” Murg said, adding that the issue is also impacting the tourism industry…