Cambodia Scam: 300+ Vietnamese Arrested in Police Bust

HANOI — More than 300 Vietnamese citizens have been arrested in Vietnam after being repatriated from Cambodia, where authorities recently dismantled a transnational cyberscam ring, police said March 29.

Vietnam Arrests Hundreds in Online Fraud Crackdown

The arrests of 343 people on internet fraud charges were made on March 27 in Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, which borders Cambodia, according to police. They were among nearly 400 Vietnamese nationals handed over by Cambodian authorities on March 17 who were identified as members of the dismantled fraud ring.

Cambodia’s immigration department reported in March that 776 Vietnamese nationals “involved in online fraud cases” were deported to Vietnam on March 17.

Organized criminal gangs across Southeast Asia have been utilizing casinos, hotels, and fortified compounds as bases to carry out sophisticated online scams, defrauding individuals worldwide, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Vietnamese police stated the accused individuals worked at a casino in Poipet, Cambodia, on the border with Thailand. They allegedly used social media and messaging applications, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, to defraud internet users in Vietnam, particularly targeting the elderly, frequent social media users, online traders, and those with limited technological expertise.

Authorities have not disclosed the total amount of money obtained by the criminal group from victims.

In January, Vietnamese police arrested 35 individuals for allegedly scamming victims out of US$350 million (S$452 million) through advanced technology used for fraud and online gambling. The previous month, 22 Vietnamese suspects were arrested in Cambodia in a joint operation between the two countries.

Vietnamese police reported that since 2020, Vietnamese victims have lost US$1.5 billion in over 24,000 cases of internet fraud. From hubs across Southeast Asia, scammers employ tactics such as fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments, stealing tens of billions of dollars annually from victims globally.