Cambodians Lose More Than $26 Million to Cross-Border Online Scams, Police Say

Cambodian nationals have been defrauded of an estimated $26.2 million by online scam operations since 2025, a figure that shows the country is not merely a base for schemes targeting foreigners but is also seeing a rise in local victims, according to National Police Commissioner Sar Theth.

Addressing the International Conference on Combating Online Scams (ICCOS) on September 24, Theth reported that police logged 1,136 complaints from Cambodian citizens in 2025, tied to roughly $4.7 million in losses. Of those cases, only 51 had been resolved, he cautioned.

In the first eight months of this year, authorities received a further 1,084 complaints amounting to about $21.5 million in losses, with just 42 of them settled, Theth said.

He did not disclose how the victims had been deceived, nor whether those responsible were Cambodian or foreign nationals.

Challenges in Tackling the Networks

Theth pointed to the fast-moving evolution of technology and telecommunications tools exploited by criminal groups, alongside the difficulty of tracing illicit money flows, as key reasons that recovering stolen funds is such a complicated task.

He noted that public understanding of these dangers also remains limited.

According to the commissioner, arrests have largely been confined to low-ranking operators and workers, while the figures leading major scam operations continue to reside overseas. This, he warned, makes it hard to dismantle the criminal networks entirely.

Theth added that officials have also struggled to identify some detained suspects because their documents had lapsed, holding up repatriation or deportation and forcing Cambodia to shoulder the associated costs.

He urged stronger collaboration between nations and international bodies to "break the chain and combat these borderless crimes."