Fake Police Stations and Prisonlike Cells: Inside a Cambodian Scam Complex

By now the damage wrought by the global cyberscam industry is well understood. Americans reported $16.6 billion in losses from internet-related crime in 2024, the most recent year government data was available—and that’s almost certainly a significant undercount, becuase many victims never contact police. In Southeast Asia tens of thousands of workers have been trafficked into prisonlike scam centers, where they’re forced to spend their days persuading people around the world to plow money into fake investments or send funds to imaginary romantic partners. If they try to escape or fail to meet revenue targets, they may be tortured—or worse.

Until recently, the inner workings of these compounds were mysterious, pieced together by investigators from the testimony of escapees. But late last year, the Thai military took control of a major scam complex in Cambodia during military clashes along the countries’ shared border. The conflict at first appeared to be the latest round in a long-running territorial dispute, but Thailand later characterized it partly as a war on scammers who frequently target its citizens.