Sihanoukville is not a single, permanent “ground zero” for cyber scams against India. It is one of the most important Cambodian hubs in a mobile regional system of scam compounds that has also operated in Poipet, Phnom Penh, Bavet, border zones and special economic areas. In December 2024, I travelled through Cambodia for reporting published by Scroll on February 13, 2025. What I found was a criminal economy with two classes of victims: Indians defrauded from home, and Indians and other migrants trafficked or coerced into making those calls.
Jinbei 4: a compound seen from the road
At Sihanoukville’s Jinbei 4 compound, the reporting was limited to a cautious drive-by. I did not enter. High walls, metal fencing, guarded entrances, CCTV and restricted access made the site resemble a prison more than an ordinary workplace. Narrow approaches and blocked or controlled exits made stopping outside risky. The apparent design was concealment: a large operation hidden behind walls rather than an open call centre.
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That observation matters, but it does not prove that every person inside was a criminal or that every business in a hotel, casino or industrial park was part of a scam. Property ownership, tenancy, supervision and direct control have to be established separately. The physical scene is evidence of restriction at this particular site, not a universal description of Cambodian buildings.
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India evacuated 60 Indians from Jinbei 4 in May 2024, according to the Scroll report. Embassy-assisted evacuations, individual escapes and police rescues are different events; none measures the total number of people who may have passed through such compounds.
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Why “ground zero” is an incomplete label
“Ground zero” is journalistic shorthand, not an official designation. Sihanoukville became central because a casino and property boom left behind large, secure buildings. Cambodia’s ban on online gambling in late 2019 and the Covid-19 collapse in casino tourism created vacant hotels, casinos and related infrastructure. Criminal syndicates repurposed some of that space for online fraud and recruited workers from across Asia.
The system is regional. Reporting and United Nations material identify operations in numerous Cambodian provinces, while related compounds have operated in Myanmar, Laos and elsewhere. Poipet’s border position, Phnom Penh’s diplomatic and transport links, and Bavet’s location near Vietnam each offer different logistical advantages. After a raid or political pressure, an operation can close one address, move workers and equipment, change its name or reappear in another building.
A 2023 Google Street View image and the reporter’s December 2024 visit showed how the landscape around a Poipet compound had changed. That kind of change is a warning against treating a map pin as a permanent headquarters.
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How a legitimate-looking job becomes forced cyber labour
Survivor accounts in Scroll’s companion investigation and an OHCHR regional report describe a recurring recruitment chain:
- Contact: A worker sees an online advertisement or hears of a vacancy through an informal agent.
- Promise: The job is presented as customer service, sales, technology or call-centre work, often with unusually high pay.
- Debt: The applicant pays recruitment, travel or “security” fees, sometimes borrowing the money.
- Travel: An intermediary arranges transport to Cambodia or another regional destination. A tourist visa may be used for what was advertised as formal employment.
- Transfer: On arrival, the worker is taken to a guarded compound rather than the promised employer.
- Control: Phones, communications, documents or movement may be controlled. Immigration status and debt become additional pressure.
- Work: Supervisors provide scripts, targets, fake identities and lists of potential victims.
- Punishment: Testimony describes threats, beatings, salary deductions, food deprivation, solitary confinement, sexual abuse and resale or transfer to another compound.
Consent can change over time. Someone may accept a fraudulent job knowingly, enter voluntarily and later be confined; a recruiter may himself be a former victim; and a person can possess a passport while still being trafficked through threats, debt or violence. “Scammer” is therefore an inadequate label for everyone making calls inside a compound.
The scams Indian workers were made to run
Digital-arrest and official impersonation
Operators impersonate police, customs officials, courts or regulators and claim that the target is under investigation. They may use a video call, a fake uniform, fabricated documents or a demand for secrecy. “Digital arrest” is a scam phrase, not a legal procedure: a person cannot be arrested or held in police custody merely because someone says so on a call.
Courier and contraband claims
A caller says that a parcel linked to the victim contains drugs, passports or illegal goods. The victim is pushed toward a “verification” payment or a transfer to an account supposedly controlled by investigators.
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Some operators build a fake emotional relationship before proposing an investment. Others display fabricated profits on a fraudulent platform and demand additional deposits to release imaginary earnings.
Task and job scams
The victim is promised commission for completing online tasks, product ratings or other simple work. Small early payments create confidence, followed by escalating demands for deposits that cannot be recovered.
Scripts are adapted to language, region, occupation and current news. The people delivering them may be Indian because an Indian voice, idiom and knowledge of local institutions make impersonation more convincing. Explaining the mechanics does not require reproducing scripts that could help criminals.
Why India is a valuable target
- India has a vast population of smartphone and digital-payment users.
- English and many regional languages allow compounds to assign workers to specific linguistic markets.
- Police, customs, courts and government branding carry real authority and emotional force.
- Large-scale labour migration creates a parallel pool of people searching for overseas employment.
- Recruitment often travels through personal networks, messaging apps and informal agents, where a convincing recommendation can substitute for verification.
These factors do not make Indian victims unusually gullible. The fraud exploits fear, urgency, authority and increasingly realistic digital impersonation. Between January and September 2024, Indians lost ₹1,616 crore to digital-arrest scams, according to Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre estimates reported by Scroll. That figure measures reported losses in a particular period and scam category; it is not a measure of all cyber fraud.
Poipet, Phnom Penh and the hidden-compound model
Sihanoukville’s towers and casino properties are visually conspicuous. Poipet can present a different model: low-rise, warehouse-like or border-area sites that are harder for outsiders to distinguish from ordinary commercial buildings. Border towns offer cross-border movement, existing gambling infrastructure and access to migrant labour. Bavet, near Vietnam, and Phnom Penh add transport, communications and administrative advantages.
The contrast does not establish that every casino or industrial park hosts criminal activity. It shows why a regional network cannot be understood by looking for one spectacular building. The United Nations has documented compounds across numerous Cambodian locations and warned that sites can open, close or relocate.
What the numbers do—and do not—tell us
| Figure | What it measures | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| More than $12.5 billion a year | Estimated revenue from Cambodia’s online-scam industry | US Institute of Peace estimate for 2024; official audited figures were unavailable. Source |
| More than $43.8 billion a year | Estimated scam activity across Mekong-region countries | A regional estimate, not a national account and not directly comparable with the Cambodia figure. Source |
| ₹1,616 crore | Indian losses to digital-arrest scams, January–September 2024 | Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre estimate as reported by Scroll; reported losses, not total fraud. Source |
| 6,998 people | Indian nationals rescued from centres in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, 2022–2025 | Parliamentary government figure; a rescue count is not a prevalence estimate. Source |
These figures must not be added together. They cover different countries, dates, methods and populations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who protects the compounds?
The most serious allegations concern corruption and political influence, but they require precise attribution. The US Treasury sanctioned Cambodian senator and businessman Ly Yong Phat in September 2024, alleging links between properties associated with him and forced labour and online scams. Researchers and journalists interviewed by Scroll have described suspected political connections, surveillance and pressure on people investigating compounds. US State Department reporting has also criticised failures to prosecute alleged compound owners.
Those allegations do not establish that the Cambodian state uniformly runs scam centres, that every owner knew about criminal activity, or that every tenant controlled workers. The defensible conclusion is narrower: observers and official reports have identified alleged protection, corruption, weak enforcement and failures to hold powerful operators accountable. Cambodia has disputed or rejected some accusations.
In 2025, Cambodia’s government announced an operation covering 138 sites in 16 provinces. Announced raids and arrests demonstrate pressure on the industry, but they do not by themselves show convictions, asset seizures, compensation for victims or the dismantling of recruiter, payment and ownership networks.
Escape is not the end of the ordeal
Some escapees reach the Indian embassy in Phnom Penh. Embassy officials may help with safe accommodation, documents and repatriation, but they depend on Cambodian cooperation and on locating people who may be frightened or hiding. Survivors can return with debt, trauma, stigma, unemployment and fear that recruiters will find them.
The UN has warned that trafficking victims may be misidentified as immigration offenders or criminals and punished. A person rescued from a compound may therefore face detention or investigation rather than immediate protection. The UN communication and the OHCHR report document allegations of torture, sexual abuse, food deprivation, solitary confinement and other abuses, while distinguishing testimony from incidents independently verified by investigators.
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Indian authorities say 6,998 nationals were rescued from cybercrime centres in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos between 2022 and 2025. Cambodia announced its 2025 multi-province crackdown, and later international actions targeted Southeast Asian scam infrastructure and recruitment channels. Reporting in 2026 described further closures and limited official access to selected former compounds.
These developments show that governments are under pressure; they do not prove that the networks have disappeared. A closure can be temporary, workers can be transferred, and the digital, financial and recruitment systems can survive the loss of one address. The meaningful test is whether enforcement reaches supervisors, financiers, payment channels, recruiters, owners and anyone providing protection—not only the people visible at the phones.
How to reduce the risk
If you are considering an overseas job
- Verify the employer through independently found contact details and corporate records.
- Use an authorised recruitment channel and check the destination country’s work-visa rules.
- Do not travel on a tourist visa for a supposedly formal job.
- Do not surrender your passport except temporarily to a verifiable authority.
- Give family members the employer, recruiter, flight, accommodation and visa details.
- Set scheduled check-ins and an emergency contact outside the recruiter’s network.
- Treat vague duties, immediate travel, unusually high pay and large registration, security, release or visa-conversion fees as red flags.
India’s external-affairs authorities have warned citizens about fake job offers in Cambodia and Laos and advised using authorised agents. Read the reported advisory context.
If a supposed official calls you
- End the call. No legitimate arrest is conducted through a video call.
- Contact the agency through a phone number found independently, not one supplied by the caller.
- Never transfer money to clear an alleged case.
- Do not install remote-access software or disclose OTPs, PINs, passwords or banking credentials.
- Save numbers, recordings where lawful, screenshots, messages and payment details.
- Contact your bank immediately if money has moved, then report the incident through India’s official cybercrime channels and local police.
The same principle applies to survivors: coercion should be investigated without erasing a person’s victimisation. People who were trafficked may have made fraudulent calls, recruited others under threat or entered the job voluntarily before being trapped. Accountability and protection are not mutually exclusive.
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