Cambodia’s authorities have revoked the casino licenses of 20 casinos and suspended those of 29 more under a nationwide crackdown on technology-based scam networks, according to a report from the Secretariat of the Ad Hoc Commission for Combating Online Scams.
The updated figures were released by state news agency Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP) this week, which also revealed that operations had been undertaken against a total of 751 scam locations with 605 shut down.
Investigations were conducted into all 195 licensed casinos in the country.
According to AKP, this represents “significant progress” in the scam center crackdown, resulting in the prosecution of thousands of suspects and deportation of tens of thousands of undocumented foreign nationals linked to illegal activities.
Between July 2025 and 31 July 2026, authorities prepared and forwarded 388 cases to the courts involving 4,147 suspects from 27 nationalities, including ringleaders and accomplices, for prosecution in accordance with the law, it stated.
AKP cited comments from H.E. Touch Sokhak, Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior, who said the results demonstrated the government’s determination to combat online scams and ensure that Cambodia would not become a safe haven or money-laundering base for technology-related criminals.
He added that investigations by the Anti-Cyber Crime Department revealed that online scam centers operate as organized criminal networks rather than ordinary fraud operations, with senior managers and team leaders who assign targets, supervise workers and systematically collect victims’ information. Criminal groups also use high-speed internet, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), encrypted messaging applications and other technologies to conceal their identities and locations.
Common schemes include cryptocurrency investment fraud, romance scams and illegal online lending schemes targeting victims both inside and outside Cambodia, Sokhak explained.
The proliferation of scam centers operating out of Cambodia has attracted significant international attention, with human rights group Amnesty International earlier this year accusing Cambodia of renewing the licenses of 12 Cambodian casinos despite alleged evidence of severe human rights abuses having taken place within their confines.
In response, the Cambodian government recently designated the combat of such scams as a top priority.
However, the negative headlines have severely impacted the country’s tourism industry, with the number of international tourists visiting Cambodia plummeting by 47.8% in the first five months of 2026.
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