Lieutenant General Thatchai Pitaneelabutr, chief of Thailand's Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), announced on 16/9 that an agreement had been reached with Cambodian police to crack down on online fraud centers believed to be operating in Cambodia.

Thai police provided detailed intelligence on the locations of these centers. Cambodia will draft and announce a comprehensive action plan within the next month aimed at dismantling them.

According to Thatchai, the targeted centers are not only involved in online fraud but also human trafficking, "causing severe and large-scale damage to Thai citizens".

Suspects in online fraud operations are arrested at a compound in Sihanoukville province on 15/7. Photo: AKP

Suspects in online fraud operations are arrested at a compound in Sihanoukville province on 15/7. Photo: AKP

The agreement was signed after nearly 10 hours of meetings between the Thai delegation, led by Thatchai, and the Cambodian delegation, led by Lieutenant General Seang Sarid, deputy director of the Cambodian National Police, in Sa Kaeo province, Thailand.

Thatchai said the meeting was lengthy because the two sides needed to carefully negotiate every detail of the operation. Bangkok will monitor the campaign's effectiveness by tracking the number of fraud complaints from Thai citizens.

Cambodia's Fresh News reported that this is the first time the two countries have adopted a joint action plan to combat transnational crime, focusing on online fraud and human trafficking. The two sides agreed to meet again within a week to establish a joint task force and finalize the action plan.

Earlier in September, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned several individuals and entities in Cambodia for their involvement in transforming hotels, office buildings, and casinos into fraud compounds. The US estimates that around 150,000 victims are held and forced to work in these Cambodian fraud centers.

Cambodia has launched numerous operations against online fraud in recent years. Most of the suspects arrested in these operations are foreigners, according to the Secretariat of the Cambodian National Committee for Combating Technology Fraud.

According to the United Nations, hundreds of thousands of people have been tricked by criminal gangs into working at illegal online fraud centers across Southeast Asia. A 2023 UN report estimates that these fraud networks generate billions of USD in illicit profits annually.

Thanh Danh (Nation, Fresh News, Khaosod)