Current:Home > InvestCambodia deports 25 Japanese nationals suspected of operating online scams-InfoLens
Cambodia deports 25 Japanese nationals suspected of operating online scams
View Date:2025-01-09 22:00:16
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Twenty-five Japanese nationals suspected of involvement in a cyberscam operation based in Cambodia were deported to Japan on Wednesday, said Gen. Khieu Sopheak, a spokesperson for Cambodia’s Interior Ministry.
The Japanese government arranged a charter flight to transport the suspects, who were detained in September after Cambodian police received a tip-off from their Japanese counterparts, he told The Associated Press.
The 25 were arrested in the capital, Phnom Penh, according to Gen. Keo Vanthan, a spokesperson for the immigration police.
Khieu Sopheak thanked the Japanese government “for their support and good cooperation with the Cambodian government in order to arrest these people.”
Cybercrime scams have become a major issue in Asia.
In August, the U.N.'s human rights office said that criminal gangs have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia into participating in unlawful online scam operations, including false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in a report cited “credible sources” saying that at least 120,000 people in strife-torn Myanmar and roughly 100,000 in Cambodia “may be affected.” The report sheds new light on cybercrime scams that have become a major issue in Asia.
In April, 19 Japanese nationals suspected of participating in phone and online scams were similarly deported from Cambodia to their homeland. They had been arrested in the southern city of Sihanoukville, which is notorious for cybercrime scams.
Such scams became a major issue in Cambodia last year, when there were numerous reports of people from various Asian countries and further afield being lured into taking jobs in Cambodia. However, they often found themselves trapped in virtual slavery and forced to participate in scams targeting people over the internet.
The scam networks, which often have links to transnational organized crime, are set up in countries with weak law enforcement and attract educated young workers with promises of high earnings. The workers are then subjected to isolation and threats of violence unless they succeed in cheating victims reached by phone into transferring payments into overseas bank accounts.
veryGood! (9633)
Related
- Vikings' Camryn Bynum celebrates game-winning interception with Raygun dance
- Democratic New York state Sen. Tim Kennedy wins seat in Congress in special election
- Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey’s Twins Look All Grown Up on 13th Birthday
- Brewers, Rays have benches-clearing brawl as Jose Siri and Abner Uribe throw punches
- Jelly Roll goes to jail (for the best reason) ahead of Indianapolis concert
- Sofía Vergara Candidly Shares How She Feels About Aging
- Expanding clergy sexual abuse probe targets New Orleans Catholic church leaders
- Barbra Streisand explains Melissa McCarthy Ozempic comment: 'Forgot the world is reading'
- Is Veterans Day a federal holiday? Here's what to know for November 11
- When do cicadas come out? See 2024 emergence map as sightings are reported across the South
Ranking
- Hurricane-stricken Tampa Bay Rays to play 2025 season at Yankees’ spring training field in Tampa
- Is pineapple good for you? Nutritionists answer commonly-searched questions
- Dave & Buster's to allow betting on arcade games
- Union Pacific undermined regulators’ efforts to assess safety, US agency says
- Harriet Tubman posthumously honored as general in Veterans Day ceremony: 'Long overdue'
- 6-year-old girl goes missing along Michigan river where 7-year-old drowned the day before
- Employer of visiting nurse who was killed didn’t protect her and should be fined, safety agency says
- 6-year-old girl goes missing along Michigan river where 7-year-old drowned the day before
Recommendation
-
RHOBH's Kyle Richards Addresses PK Kemsley Cheating Rumors in the Best Way Possible
-
WNBA ticket sales on StubHub are up 93%. Aces, Caitlin Clark and returning stars fuel rise
-
Claudia Oshry Reveals How Ozempic Caused Hair Loss Issues
-
Marcus Outzen dies: Former Florida State quarterback started national title game
-
Biden EPA to charge first-ever ‘methane fee’ for drilling waste by oil and gas companies
-
World's Strongest Man competition returns: Who to know, how to follow along
-
'Succession' star Brian Cox opens up about religion, calls the Bible 'one of the worst books'
-
Former students of the for-profit Art Institutes are approved for $6 billion in loan cancellation