Scam-centre operations in Cambodia have been associated with
human trafficking for
forced labour and forced criminality, in which people are recruited for ostensibly legitimate employment and then compelled to conduct online fraud. Regional reporting has described the phenomenon as “human trafficking-fueled fraud”, in which trafficking victims are coerced into large-scale online scam operations based largely in Southeast Asia. Victims have described travelling to Cambodia for employment and then being taken to secured compounds, including in casino-linked and
special economic zone environments. Interviews with survivors described recruitment through deceptive job advertisements and brokers offering high salaries and benefits for roles such as translation, customer support, and other “office” work, with transport into Cambodia arranged by recruiters or intermediaries, including via unofficial entry points and smuggling routes. Accounts described punitive confinement in dark rooms (including windowless rooms or cage-like spaces), sometimes for hours or days, combined with beatings, electric shocks, deprivation of food, and threats of escalation. Some survivors described being handcuffed and left in cold, air-conditioned rooms (including after water was thrown on them), as well as being hooded or having bags placed over their head during beatings and shocks; accounts also included beatings to the soles of the feet using hard objects. In September 2024, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Cambodian senator and tycoon
Ly Yong Phat and associated businesses for facilitating cyber scams and human trafficking, and described scam-centre operations linked to an O Smach resort complex in which victims' passports and phones were confiscated and victims were forced to conduct online scams and subjected to physical abuse.
Ransom, debts and sale or transfer of victims Victims and their families have reported being pressured to pay money for release, including demands described as “ransom” payments, and being told they owed a debt to the compound that had to be worked off. Travel costs have also been covered and treated as a “debt” to be repaid through scam work, and victims have described being sold to scam entities after arriving in Cambodia. Investigative reporting has also described victims being “sold” or transferred between compounds, including after attempting to escape, with prices negotiated between groups operating different sites. Survivor accounts described coercive “debts” and fines used to prolong captivity and compel compliance, including arbitrary penalties (for example, for toilet breaks, talking, or alleged underperformance) and debts that could rapidly increase over time; some said they were told they could leave only by paying large “compensation” amounts. Survivors also described sale or transfer between compounds as a control mechanism; the report stated that 23 of 58 survivors reported being sold into a compound, witnessing such sales, or being threatened with sale to another compound or across borders.
Victim–offender overlap Scam-compound trafficking cases can involve blurred boundaries between victimisation and offending, including situations in which victims are coerced into facilitating operations or recruiting others, complicating victim identification and criminal investigations.
Deaths and escape attempts Reporting on Cambodian scam compounds has included accounts of people attempting to escape by jumping from upper floors, sometimes resulting in serious injuries. Human-rights reporting has also documented cases in which people died inside compounds, including a confirmed case involving a child, as well as deaths reported by witnesses and survivors. Survivor accounts also described escape attempts and the risks faced by those trying to flee, including people jumping from buildings and groups attempting to break out (including through setting fires), alongside accounts of severe reprisals against those caught.
Escape, rescue and repatriation challenges Security measures and threats of violence have made escape difficult, and rescues have often relied on law-enforcement raids and consular intervention. Survivors have also described difficulties accessing protection and services after leaving compounds, including limited shelter capacity and inconsistent responses from assistance organisations. Trafficking specialists have argued that advocacy on human trafficking—including scam-compound cases—can attract retaliation or regulatory pressure, which may discourage some local groups from taking on such cases. Victim-identification problems have also been reported, including cases in which people removed from compounds were treated as immigration offenders rather than trafficking victims, limiting access to protection and assistance. In March 2024, India said it had rescued and repatriated about 250 citizens from Cambodia who had been lured by job offers and forced to participate in cyber fraud schemes. In February 2025, Thai and Cambodian police raided a building in
Poipet and said they freed 215 foreign nationals from a scam centre, including nationals from Thailand, Pakistan, India, Taiwan, and Indonesia. In March 2025, Thailand said it was studying construction of a wall along parts of its border with Cambodia after Thai authorities received nationals rescued from a Poipet compound.
Documented abuses and official response A 2025 Amnesty International investigation described patterns of forced labour, deprivation of liberty, torture and other ill-treatment, and other abuses in Cambodian scam compounds, and linked these patterns to trafficking into forced criminality. The Cambodian government denied allegations of inaction and said it was addressing online scams through enforcement efforts. Some observers have highlighted institutional gaps in addressing trafficking-linked “forced scamming”, arguing that cybercrime and human trafficking are often handled as separate problems and that responsibilities are fragmented rather than clearly assigned to a single lead body. Critics have also questioned the effectiveness of the government’s
National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT), describing some public-facing activities as oriented toward reputational messaging and rebutting allegations rather than sustained accountability for well-connected operators. == Locations and hubs ==