3 days ago
Cambodia police bust suspected base for fraud against Japanese
Cambodian authorities have detained more than 20 people believed to be Japanese at a suspected base for phone fraud scams targeting people in Japan, the National Police Agency said May 29.
According to the NPA, Aichi prefectural police had learned that Japanese nationals were committing fraud by pretending to be police officers in the Southeast Asian country, and the information was provided to the Cambodian side through the Foreign Ministry.
Cambodian investigators on May 27 searched the building in the northwestern part of the country and detained more than 30 foreigners, including many believed to be Japanese, the NPA said.
Computers, smartphones and other items were seized from the building.
The building is located in Poipet, near the border with Thailand, within a cluster of offices and simple accommodations, NPA sources said.
The NPA believes the Japanese at the base pretended to be police officers, phoned potential victims in Japan and told them their bank accounts had been used for criminal activity. The fake officers told the targets to provide cash to prove their innocence.
From January to March this year, 1,894 such cases were confirmed in Japan, with damages totaling about 17.17 billion yen ($119.33 million), according to the NPA's provisional figures.
Local police busts of such special fraud bases have increased around Southeast Asia.
From 2019 to 2024, a total of 178 Japanese were detained at 14 bases in four countries: Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam.
In 2019, 52 people were detained at a base in the Philippines, the largest number at any single base.
Many of the detainees were apparenlty victims themselves.
Several reports said tourists and other travelers have been tricked into entering Myanmar where they are forced to engage in fraudulent activities by criminal organizations.
According to Aichi prefectural police, a 21-year-old man in the prefecture informed them through a related organization about the special fraud base in Poipet.
The man had applied for a 'part-time job' via a major employment site last December. He received travel instructions from an intermediary who met him at Nagoya Station, and then took a flight from Kansai Airport to Thailand, according to the prefectural police.
A car that picked up the Aichi man took him over the border to the base in Poipet, where he came under the supervision of Chinese nationals, police said.
He said that he and more than 20 other Japanese were ordered to take part in special fraud by pretending to be police officers and making phone calls to Japan.
The base was surrounded by walls and could not be entered from the main street without passing through three gates with security guards, he said.
The Aichi man returned to Japan in early January and provided the information to police.
Aichi prefectural police will dispatch investigators to Poipet to check the situation.
(This article was written by Daichi Itakura and Toshinari Takahashi.)
