Cambodia continues raids on scam centers, bringing arrests in past 3 weeks over 2,100
The arrests in Kandal province on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, and in the northeastern province of Stung Treng, brought to 2,137 the total number detained since June 27, Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said in a statement.
Those netted in raids in 43 locations around the country included 429 Vietnamese, 271 Indonesians, 589 Chinese, 57 Koreans, 70 Bangladeshi and 42 Pakistanis, said his statement. Other suspects were from Thailand, Laos, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Myanmar.
The United Nations and other agencies have estimated that cyberscams, most of them originating from Southeast Asia, earn international criminal gangs billions of dollars annually. The cybercriminals pretend friendship or tout phony investment opportunities to cheat their targets around the world.
Neth Pheaktra's statement said Cambodia's crackdown is ongoing 'and will absolutely continue, with a clear mandate from the top leadership to root out all illegal cybercrime activity — regardless of location or affiliation.'
He said it was strengthened by a directive issued Monday by Prime Minister Hun Manet that threatened state personnel at all levels with transfers or dismissal if they failed to act vigorously against cyberscams.
The latest arrests followed 2,418 others in the first six months of the year involving 18 alleged scam operations in different parts of the country, said a report from the National Police Commissioner cited by Neth Pheaktra.
These resulted in 73 prosecutions and 2,322 foreigners being deported, it said.
Workers at scam centers are often recruited under false pretenses and then held captive to work under tight guard.
'Jobseekers from Asia and beyond are lured by the promise of well-paid work into hellish labour camps run by well-organized gangs, where they are forced to scam under the very real threat of violence,' the human rights groups Amnesty International said in a report issued last month.
It said the findings of its 18-month investigation into cyberscams 'suggest there has been coordination and possibly collusion between Chinese compound bosses and the Cambodian police, who have failed to shut down compounds despite the slew of human rights abuses taking place inside.' The kingpins of many online scam operations tend to be ethnic Chinese organized crime bosses, who generally operate outside China in areas with weak law enforcement.
A spokesperson for the Cambodian human rights organization Licadho, which is often critical of the government, noted the country's poor reputation due to cybercrime, and welcomed the crackdown.
'This campaign should have been launched long ago because Cambodia has been criticized by international organizations, the international community, and the United Nations for online fraud in Cambodia, which has affected Cambodia's image, international tourists, investment, security, order, and social security,' Licadko's operations director Am Sam Ath, told The Associated Press.
'However, launching this campaign is good to demonstrate the Royal Government's determination and willingness to prevent and suppress online fraud and trust,' he said, noting that other members of the regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations had also acted this year to suppress online crime.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
4 hours ago
- Powys County Times
1,400 killed in sectarian violence in coastal Syria in March, committee says
More than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, were killed in several days of sectarian violence on Syria's coast earlier this year, a government committee tasked with investigating it has said. The violence was the first major incident to emerge after the ousting of long-time President Bashar Assad in December. It said there was no evidence that Syria's new military leaders ordered attacks on the Alawite community there, to which Mr Assad belonged. Nearly 300 people suspected of committing crimes including murder, robbery, torture and looting and burning of homes and businesses were identified during the four-month investigation and referred for prosecution, and 37 people have been arrested, officials told journalists. They did not say how many suspects were members of security forces. The committee's report came as Syria reels from a new round of sectarian violence in the south, which again has threatened to upend the country's fragile recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war. The violence on the coast began on March 6 when armed groups loyal to Mr Assad attacked security forces of the new government, killing 238 of them, the committee said. In response, security forces descended on the coast from other areas of the country, joined by thousands of armed civilians. In total, some 200,000 armed men mobilised, the committee said. As they entered neighbourhoods and villages, some – including members of military factions – committed 'widespread, serious violations against civilians', committee spokesperson Yasser al-Farhan said. In some cases, armed men asked civilians whether they belonged to the Alawite sect and 'committed violations based on this', the spokesperson said. The committee, however, found that the 'sectarian motives were mostly based on revenge, not ideology', he said. Judge Jumaa al-Anzi, the committee's chairman, said that 'we have no evidence that the (military) leaders gave orders to commit violations'. He also said investigators had not received reports of girls or women being kidnapped. Some rights groups, including a United Nations commission, have documented cases of Alawite women being kidnapped in the months since the violence. There have been ongoing, although scattered, reports of Alawites being killed, robbed and extorted since the violence. Tens of thousands of members of the minority sect have fled to neighbouring Lebanon. There have been echoes of the coastal violence in the new clashes in the southern province of Sweida over the past two weeks. Those clashes broke out between Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and armed groups of the Druze religious minority, and government security forces who intervened to restore order ended up siding with the Bedouins. Members of the security forces allegedly killed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes. Druze armed groups launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. Hundreds have been killed, and the UN says more than 128,500 people have been displaced. The violence has largely stopped as a ceasefire takes told. The committee chairman said the violence in Sweida is 'painful for all Syrians' but 'beyond the jurisdiction' of his committee.
Western Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
1,400 killed in sectarian violence in coastal Syria in March, committee says
The violence was the first major incident to emerge after the ousting of long-time President Bashar Assad in December. It said there was no evidence that Syria's new military leaders ordered attacks on the Alawite community there, to which Mr Assad belonged. Nearly 300 people suspected of committing crimes including murder, robbery, torture and looting and burning of homes and businesses were identified during the four-month investigation and referred for prosecution, and 37 people have been arrested, officials told journalists. Fighting has also taken place near Sweida city in southern Syria (Omar Sanadiki/AP) They did not say how many suspects were members of security forces. The committee's report came as Syria reels from a new round of sectarian violence in the south, which again has threatened to upend the country's fragile recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war. The violence on the coast began on March 6 when armed groups loyal to Mr Assad attacked security forces of the new government, killing 238 of them, the committee said. In response, security forces descended on the coast from other areas of the country, joined by thousands of armed civilians. In total, some 200,000 armed men mobilised, the committee said. As they entered neighbourhoods and villages, some – including members of military factions – committed 'widespread, serious violations against civilians', committee spokesperson Yasser al-Farhan said. In some cases, armed men asked civilians whether they belonged to the Alawite sect and 'committed violations based on this', the spokesperson said. The committee, however, found that the 'sectarian motives were mostly based on revenge, not ideology', he said. Judge Jumaa al-Anzi, the committee's chairman, said that 'we have no evidence that the (military) leaders gave orders to commit violations'. He also said investigators had not received reports of girls or women being kidnapped. Some rights groups, including a United Nations commission, have documented cases of Alawite women being kidnapped in the months since the violence. There have been ongoing, although scattered, reports of Alawites being killed, robbed and extorted since the violence. Tens of thousands of members of the minority sect have fled to neighbouring Lebanon. There have been echoes of the coastal violence in the new clashes in the southern province of Sweida over the past two weeks. Those clashes broke out between Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and armed groups of the Druze religious minority, and government security forces who intervened to restore order ended up siding with the Bedouins. Members of the security forces allegedly killed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes. Druze armed groups launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. Hundreds have been killed, and the UN says more than 128,500 people have been displaced. The violence has largely stopped as a ceasefire takes told. The committee chairman said the violence in Sweida is 'painful for all Syrians' but 'beyond the jurisdiction' of his committee. 'Time will reveal what happened and who is responsible for it,' he said.
Times
7 hours ago
- Times
Businesses banned from paying hackers' ransoms to target cybercrime
Victims of hacking will be banned from paying ransoms to cyber-criminals unless approved by officials, under new laws announced on that are deemed to be part of critical infrastructure will face a complete ban on paying cyber-criminals, as will the whole public of a hack will also have to inform officials, to give them the first complete picture of the scale of 'ransomware' measures are some of the most aggressive in the world to target the business model of hackers. Only Australia has similar laws. • UK under assault as number of 'significant' cyberattacks doubles Ransomware is the biggest cyber threat faced by Britain. Hackers cripple a system after getting access and threaten to publish sensitive information unless they are paid in cryptocurrency — known as 'double extortion'.Recent hacks on the retail sector that targeted Marks & Spencer, The Co-Operative Group and Harrods highlighted the damage such operations can do. M&S put the cost of the attack at £300 million. Last year NHS hospitals in London had to cancel procedures and operations after a pathology lab was hacked, contributing to the death of one person, one of the first fatalities linked to public sector currently has a de-facto ban on ransoms, so the most far reaching measure in the updated laws will require businesses or organisations not covered by any ban to seek approval for paying would then be provided with advice and support and would be stopped from paying any sanctioned groups, many of whom are based in Russia. • UK is No 1 target for Russian cyberattacks since Trump's election Organisations involved in critical national infrastructure, which encompasses 13 sectors such as chemicals, food, communications and data centres, will also not be allowed to of the Co-Op said they did not pay any ransom but the chairman of M&S could not make a similar statement when questioned by MPs this hacks have been linked to the Scattered Spider and DragonForce groups and four people have been arrested. Shirine Khoury-Haq, the Co-Op CEO, said the laws were 'a step in the right direction for building a safer digital future.' • M&S bosses under fire after 'damaging and embarrassing' cyberattack Experts also welcomed the measures. Ciaran Martin, former chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, called it 'a very positive step' . He added: 'It ends the damaging nonsense where criminals can get lucratively paid in secret: the authorities can't help if they don't know about something. How it's implemented is crucial but it deserves support.'Alan Woodward, professor of cybersecurity at Surrey University, said: 'All of this will undermine the criminals' business model. Hopefully it should show the criminals there is no point in attacking UK based targets. I don't imagine it will cause an immediate drop off but it should cause a progressive slow down.'Jamie MacColl, senior research fellow in cyber and tech at the Royal United Services Institute, said it was 'a sign that the government is taking ransomware more seriously'.However, he added: 'I remain sceptical that the partial ransom payment ban for the public sector and critical national infrastructure is going to have the desired effect and make the UK a less attractive target for cybercriminals. 'Ransomware is a largely an opportunistic crime and most cybercriminals are not discerning. I can't see most cybercriminals taking a limited UK payment ban into account for their operating models. It would probably take a full payment ban to make the criminals sit up and take notice.'The plans come after a consultation on the measures, which the Home Office said had broad Jarvis, the security minister, said: 'By working in partnership with industry to advance these measures, we are sending a clear signal that the UK is united in the fight against ransomware.'
