Major Cybercrime Racket Busted: India’s Alert Leads to Over 3,000 Arrests in Cambodia
In a major breakthrough, Cambodian authorities have arrested over 3,000 individuals involved in a massive online fraud network.
An investigation into the rising cases of "digital arrest" scams and online frauds in India revealed that many of the IP addresses used by fraudsters were traced to Cambodia. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, flagged the issue and alerted relevant authorities. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was then informed and subsequently coordinated with Cambodian officials to initiate action against the fraudulent network.
Raids were conducted at 138 locations across Cambodia, resulting in the arrest of 3,075 individuals. According to sources, the masterminds behind the scam lured people with offers of high-paying call centre jobs, only to later coerce them into duping others under the pretext of “digital arrests” and other fraudulent schemes.
The operation revealed a highly sophisticated modus operandi. Workers at these fraudulent call centres were reportedly trained to speak in various Indian regional dialects to better manipulate and extort Indian victims.
According to reports, those arrested include more than 1,000 Chinese nationals, 693 from Vietnam, 336 from Indonesia, and several others from Thailand, South Korea, and Pakistan. Around 105 Indian nationals, who were allegedly lured with false job promises and forced into online fraud activities, were also detained.
India has witnessed a surge in cases involving young people being trafficked to Cambodia on the pretext of employment. Several such cases have emerged from Andhra Pradesh, where individuals were trafficked to Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. Local police have arrested multiple people for facilitating these human trafficking rackets.
In May this year, 27 Indian youths trafficked to Cambodia under the guise of job opportunities were successfully repatriated. They had been forced to engage in cybercrime and Ponzi schemes.
