Cambodia's multi-billion dollar scam centres - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Many of the online scams that target Australians and people across the world have come from Cambodian scam centres, and the enormous scale of the oligarch-run industry is difficult to fathom. While the Cambodian government has shut centres down, they are the tip of the iceberg of the country's "scam state architecture", which is now "recognised as one of the world's most consequential criminal-political systems". 

Guest: Jacob Sims, a leading expert on transnational crime and human rights in Southeast Asia, and columnist for The Diplomat. Jacob is author of the National Democratic Institute report and INCA digital publication “Scam State Architecture -- Disruption, Adaptation, and the Enduring Threat of Cambodia's State-crime”.

A police officer inspects inside a scam compound known as "My Casino" which police said was owned by former tycoon and casino owner Ly Kuong in Kampot province, Cambodia, February 10, 2026. REUTERS/Soveit Yarn