Cambodia approves harsh draft law targeting cyberscammers

Cambodia’s government approved a draft law on March 13 that will hand down harsh sentences against fraudsters running cyberscam operations.



Cambodia has emerged as a hot spot for crime syndicates running a multibillion-dollar fraud industry that sees scammers lure internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.



Largely concentrated in South-east Asia, the global cyberscam industry has reached “industrial proportions”, with estimates of its annual revenues as high as US$64 billion , according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.



Some of the hundreds of thousands of people carrying out scams in the region are trafficked and held against their will, while others work voluntarily.



The draft law – which aims to stamp out transnational cyberscam operations – was approved during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hun Manet,