According to Reuters and other sources on the 29th, Amnesty International, a human rights organization, said in a recent report that it has identified 53 large-scale fraudulent workplaces and dozens of suspected facilities across Cambodia. The report was prepared based on interviews with a total of 58 people, including survivors, witnesses, and government officials.
Amnesty International analyzed that Cambodia’s online fraud industry is thriving on the basis of “extremely violent and exploitative” labor practices. These workshops lured the victims with fake job advertisements, confiscated their passports, and forced them to commit investment fraud, romance scam, and virtual currency fraud. Failure to meet the target amount resulted in beating, torture, and electric shock. The facility was surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards and did not even dare to run away, the report said. Nine minors were included among the victims.
Lewis, an 18-year-old Thai boy, testified that he was offered a high-income job and taken to a Cambodian fraudulent workplace. He was forced to deceive women and extort money after creating fake male images with Deepfake software here. He explained that he was tortured by an electric shocker if he failed to meet the allocation amount of at least 1 million baht per month. The report pointed out that the Cambodian government is aware of the crime and is assisting it. Although some facilities have been closed due to the recent crackdown, more than two-thirds of all fraudulent workplaces are not investigated by the police or continue to operate after the investigation.
“The authorities were aware of the internal situation and were able to prevent the abuse, but they tolerated it,” said Monse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s head of research in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Some analysts say that the government’s passive response is related to its enormous economic benefits. The U.S. think tank U.S. Peace Research Institute estimated that the fraudulent industry in Cambodia generates 12.5 billion dollars a year, or half of the country’s GDP.
The latest report is in line with the existing U.N. warnings. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said last month that online fraud and human trafficking crimes in Cambodia are thriving amid corruption in the judicial system. “As public authority is not working properly, victims are not easily rescued.”
The Cambodian government strongly protested Amnesty International’s announcement. “The government is not letting go, with the formation of a fraud control task force led by Prime Minister Hunmanet in January this year,” government spokesman Poulinbona said. “The report was exaggerated.”
SAM KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
