“Cyber Scam Monitor”

Over the past decade, Southeast Asia has emerged as a hot spot for cyber scams and online gambling operations. [...] In some cases, large compounds have been set up to accommodate dozens of companies, in others, hotels and condos have been rented out to operators. In all cases, operations are controlled by gangsters and criminal elements, often with links to local elites, or at least with their tacit approval.

[...]Initially, it was mostly Chinese citizens who were recruited to work in these operations, but quickly people from other countries in the region and beyond started to get drawn in. [...] Overwhelming evidence of torture, violence, and brutality within online operations has now become ubiquitous.

What Is Cyber Scam Monitor?

As the industry has expanded and the stories of survivors has continued to emerge, courageous journalists have sought to expose the issue, and volunteer rescue teams have worked under often perilous conditions to help get people out. Cyber Scam Monitor was established to draw together the increasing wealth of information that is now out there. Our website is structured as a map comprising project-specific profiles that document the location of reported online crime operations, abuses perpetrated there, and which actors and companies are known to be linked to them. The site content will initially focus on Cambodia, as it has become the regional leader in hosting online crime activities, but it will later expand to cover other countries.

What Do We Hope to Achieve?

[...]

By exposing these crimes, Cyber Scam Monitor seeks to keep these activities in the public eye, document abuses and expose those who have enabled them. This industry has been able to thrive by operating in the shadows, and the only way it will be eradicated is by shining a light upon it.

The list of projects identified by the Monitor:

1. Bavet Moc Bai Casino
2. Bolai Casino / Brilliancy Casino
3. Crown High-Tech Industrial Park
4. Jingang Hotel
5. Jinshui
6. K99 Group Triumph City
7. Kaibo
8. Long Bay
9. MDS Henghe Thmorda Special Economic Zone
10. Nanhai
11. Oscar Casino
12. Pacific Real Estate / Golden Phoenix Entertainment City
13. Unnamed Condominium, Street 310, Phnom Penh
14. White Sand & White Sand 2
15. Yongyuan Casino
16. Zhengheng New Energy Building