Government spokesperson Pen Bona reaffirmed Cambodia’s commitment to eliminate online scam operation centers, denying there was an April deadline to end cyberscams.
“The Royal Government did not determine to end [the enforcement] by April. Samdech [Prime Minister Hun Manet] said that a campaign must continue until there is no scam,” Bona said.
He claimed that the cleaning up of online scams by April was a “rumor” which the government had already clarified.
Earlier, Hun Manet said that his remarks about cracking down on online scams had been “misinterpreted” when he spoke about it during the Cambodia-ASEAN Business Summit 2026. He stressed that the campaign was not intended to be short-term, but to continue in order to eliminate cybercrimes in the country.
Several online scam crackdowns have taken place in Banteay Meanchey province, with a recent incident involving shots being fired in the air by police as people tried to escape. Over 3,000 foreigners were detained in Baolong 3 in the Poipet city area on April 29.
On May 3, at least 150 Indonesians were detained during a raid in a building in Balilei 1 village, Poipet, suspected of running online scams. The operation was carried out by the National Police, led by the deputy head of the Secretariat for the Committee on Combatting Technology-based Fraud.
Since March 12, over 4,000 people, mostly Chinese nationals, have been detained in 11 locations in Banteay Meanchey, according to administrative chief Norng Vuthy who confirmed the figure published by media outlet Freshnews on May 3.
Banteay Meanchey provincial police chief Soeum Sarith declined to comment.
From early 2025 to April 19 this year, some 13,039 people of 33 nationalities, including 1,509 women, have been deported, according to official figures following procedures implemented to expel foreigners involved in technology fraud.
Separately, 241,888 foreigners including Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesians, Indians, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis have left Cambodia voluntarily between mid-January this year and April 19, government figures showed.
The new Law on Combating Online Scams came into effect early April and was first used to charge several foreign nations for organizing a criminal group, related to an online scam operation in Mondukiri province last month.
Operations director of rights group Licadho, Am Sam Ath, urged the government to take legal action against any “high-ranking” officials involved in online scams in order to ensure the crackdown is effective.
“The law must be enforced against officials involved in online scams. Those in positions of authority who have benefited must refrain from such activities. This is important for the effectiveness of the crackdown, including the new anti–online scam law,” he said.
