Political situation in Cambodia

Fraud the Biggest Industry in “Scambodia”

A half-finished, golden skyscraper towers over all other buildings in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. It is being built by Chinese Xu Aimin, one of the main players in the fraud industry that has become so widespread that foreign politicians have started calling the country “Scambodia,” reports the WSJ.

Online fraud has become Cambodia’s biggest industry. Last year, it generated sales equivalent to over 170 billion kronor – 40 percent of the country’s GDP. International crime syndicates have built headquarters in cities and towns where slave laborers dupe foreign victims by pretending to be love interests, investors or police officers.

Xu Aimin, one of the handful of Chinese who run the syndicates, has been sanctioned by the United States. The frauds have given Cambodia a tarnished reputation abroad, and the foreign press has prompted authorities to carry out hundreds of raids in recent months.

New law to clamp down on Cambodia's online fraudsters

In early April, Cambodia's parliament approved the first new law to tackle the fraud industry that has grown to become the country's largest, writes Reuters.

Justice Minister Keut Rith describes it as a "clean-up operation."

"The law is as tight as a fishing net," he says.

If the law is approved by the king, the penalty for online fraudsters will be set at two to five years in prison and a fine of up to the equivalent of 1.1 million kronor.