GI-TOC finds Cambodia’s cyber-scam industry spreading from casino areas to rural communities and becoming part of local economies despite government crackdowns

Research by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime finds Cambodia’s cyber-scam industry has expanded beyond casino developments and border towns into secondary cities, villages and remote areas, reshaping local labour markets, land use and economic activity. Fieldwork across eight locations found that, despite government crackdowns in 2025 and the departure or deportation of tens of thousands of scam…