Cambodia is feeling the heat to wind down one of its top industries: scamming.
Driving the news: Thousands of people are estimated to have escaped from multiple Cambodian scam compounds throughout the past week, according to Amnesty International. The compounds are hubs for online fraud, especially crypto and romance-investment scams.
Zoom out: Cambodia has grown to become, as one report put it, "likely the absolute global epicenter” of cyber-fraud in recent years. The industry is run by organized crime groups that lure unwitting job hunters to compounds where they’re then kept against their will.
An estimated 100,000 people are indentured at Cambodian scam compounds as of 2023, plus 120,000 in Myanmar and tens of thousands more across Southeast Asia.
Why it matters: The recent flood of escapees comes as international powers push Cambodia to eradicate an illegal industry that generates, per one 2024 estimate, over US$42 billion in ill-gotten gains annually.
The biggest move so far came this month when Cambodia extradited tycoon and alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi to stand trial in China.
In recent months, the U.S. indicted Chen, seized his assets, and sanctioned his businesses. The U.K. and Thailand have also begun cracking down.