After Cambodian police raided Gang Dao Casino in Preah Sihanouk, authorities discovered that the facility was being utilized as an illegal internet scamming operation. The police seized nearly 500 computers and over 1,000 mobile telephones, which allegedly had been used in the scamming operation.
During the April 5 raid, law enforcement also arrested 108 individuals and subsequently closed and sealed the building, according to news reports from the Cambodia Commercial Gambling Management Commission.
In Southeast Asia, Cambodia has become widely regarded as a hub for internet scams. However, the country is in competition for that dubious distinction with both Myanmar and Laos, earning Cambodia a nickname as “Scambodia.” The April 5 closing of Gang Dao Casino comes as the government recently increased its efforts to rid the country of internet scams. It is estimated that the illegal operations of internet scams generated $12.5 billion of criminal activity in Cambodia for the year 2024.
Some individuals seeking clerical or computer-related jobs become trapped by resorting to the forbidden online scams once they arrive at the casino for work. Should individuals fail to meet their financial goals, they will often be threatened with physical violence in order to coerce them into committing illegal acts.
A report by the BBC dated April 6 noted that, in a casino that has since been closed, any employee who was unable to perform at a high enough level would be subjected to physical punishment and would receive “at least 10 strokes” from a cane.
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