In recent years, Cambodia has continuously upgraded its efforts to combat telecommunications fraud, but fraud groups have also been adjusting their strategies, seeking new hideouts. Recently, Cambodian police launched a raid in Mondulkiri Province, successfully dismantling a fraud den hidden deep in the mountains and arresting 258 suspects involved.
This was the first large-scale operation implemented just 18 days after Prime Minister Hun Manet established the "Anti-Cyber Fraud Committee," demonstrating the Cambodian government's zero-tolerance policy towards telecommunications fraud.
Strategic Shift of Fraud Groups: Spreading from Cities to Remote Mountainous Areas
As law enforcement pressure increases in traditional fraud strongholds such as Sihanoukville (West Port), Poipet, and Mupai, organized fraud groups are strategically retreating to more remote border provinces and mountainous areas to evade crackdowns. They are capitalizing on the geographical advantages of mountainous areas, using the complex environment to create "safe harbors" and reduce the risk of law enforcement intervention.
According to investigations, some fraud rings rent remote resorts and implement strict closed management. Fraud groups typically establish a single entry and exit point and deploy personnel to guard it 24 hours a day to prevent insiders from escaping or leaking information to the outside world. These resorts, originally intended for tourists' leisure and vacations, have been transformed into "fraud factories," becoming new bases for criminals to conceal their activities.
Resorts Turned into Fraud Bases: High Rent and Closed Management
Mondulkiri Province is known for its pristine forests and ecotourism, with numerous resorts, hotels, and tourism facilities. However, due to its remote location, some resorts are not doing well, attracting few tourists, allowing fraud groups to take advantage and rent entire buildings, transforming them into fraud bases.
It is understood that a fraud company with a hundred people spends as much as $80,000 per month on rent alone. Compared to the unstable income from tourists, this "stable high rent" is highly attractive to resort owners, with some even proactively offering their venues to fraud groups. These fraud bases often have independent water supply and power generation systems and are equipped with professional security personnel, forming a complete "black industry chain."
Internal Economy of Fraud Parks: High Salaries and Soaring Prices
Fraud groups not only create closed "fraud factories" but also develop a unique "park economy" within.
To sustain the operation of the fraud industry, the salary levels in these parks are much higher than local industry standards. For example:
Ordinary security personnel can earn a monthly salary of $700, twice the local minimum wage;
Translators who know Chinese can earn over $1,000 per month, attracting a large number of local Cambodian Chinese;
Managers earn salaries starting from over $2,000, far exceeding local government official salaries.
Additionally, since the fraud parks are isolated from the outside world, the supply of goods also becomes an independent market, with prices within the parks skyrocketing. For example:
A cola that sells for $0.5 locally is priced at $5 within the fraud park;
A bowl of ordinary fried rice, priced from $1.5, soars to over $8;
The prices of various daily necessities are also several times higher than market prices.
This not only allows fraud groups to further extract illegal profits but also creates an "alternative economic ecology," deepening the local dependency on illegal activities.
Government's Intensified Crackdown: Enhanced Patrols in Border and Mountainous Areas
Facing the new concealment modes of fraud groups, the Cambodian government quickly adjusts its strategy, strengthening supervision in remote areas. Mondulkiri police stated that they would increase patrol efforts, focusing on monitoring mountainous and border areas to prevent fraud groups from exploiting geographical advantages to continue their crimes. Additionally, the Cambodian government plans to strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries, especially Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, to cut off the cross-border escape routes of fraud groups.
At the same time, the government also calls on local businesses and residents to be vigilant, not to be tempted by high rents, and to assist fraud groups in providing venues and resources. Businesses that intentionally shelter or participate in fraud will face severe penalties.
Conclusion: A Long-term Battle of Crackdown and Countermeasures
The shifting patterns of Cambodian fraud groups continue to evolve, using remote mountain resorts to establish "fraud safe harbors" in an attempt to evade crackdowns. However, the government's countermeasures are also being strengthened simultaneously, with law enforcement gradually tightening control over these emerging fraud bases. In the future, the battlefield of telecommunications fraud in Cambodia will shift from urban areas to more concealed regions, and this battle between good and evil will continue to unfold.
