Southeast Asia Scam Crackdown Accelerates: Simultaneous Pressure from Cambodia, Myanmar, China, and South Korea
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Written by Aung Aung Han,
As governments intensify large-scale crackdowns on online scam operations and illegal gambling networks based in Cambodia, criminal networks across Southeast Asia are rapidly shrinking. With Cambodia, Myanmar, China, and South Korea launching strong investigations and punishments to protect their citizens and eliminate crime, areas once considered “safe havens” for scam hubs in Southeast Asia are now effectively under siege, according to analysts.
First, the Cambodian government has begun large-scale on-site raids targeting online scam call centers and illegal gambling organizations, arresting and deporting large numbers of foreign nationals involved. In particular, authorities recently stripped Cambodian nationality from Chen Zhi, chairman of the major scam-linked Prince Group in December last year, arrested him on January 6, and transferred him to China. This move, directly targeting a key figure in organized scam operations, is seen as a clear signal domestically and internationally of Cambodia’s strong determination to eradicate scam networks.
Myanmar is also accelerating efforts to process and repatriate its citizens involved in scam crimes. On 27 January, the Myanmar government announced through the state newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar that it had been repatriating citizens involved in online fraud and gambling activities in Cambodia in stages. According to the report, a total of 1,086 people were returned home: 136 in the first group (23 January), 430 in the second group (25 January), 163 in the third group (26 January), 267 in the fourth group (6 February), and 90 in the fifth group (7 February). Myanmar authorities are conducting identity checks, verifying criminal involvement, and proceeding with legal measures against the returnees, and plan to continue additional repatriations for those who remain. They also stated that online fraud and gambling threaten the entire international community and expressed their intention to expand joint investigations with neighboring countries.
China’s zero-tolerance judicial measures are even more severe. On 2 February, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court announced that it had carried out death sentences against 4 core members of the Bai family criminal organization operating across Southeast Asia. Earlier, on 29 January, death sentences were also carried out for 11 ringleaders of the Ming family network. Chinese authorities have classified large-scale scam crimes as major violent crimes and are applying the highest level of punishment, sending a strong warning signal across criminal organizations. Some observers say this will make it far more difficult for Southeast Asian scam groups to recruit or coerce Chinese nationals.
South Korea has also publicly declared that it will no longer remain merely a “victim country.” President Lee Jae-myung visited the Transnational Crime Response Task Force at the Government Complex Seoul on 26 January, received a briefing on investigations, and instructed officials to make it known that “if you target Koreans, you will be ruined.” On 30 January, he shared scam-tracking investigation results on social media platform X, stating, “The Republic of Korea does what it says. To the very end,” emphasizing the government’s determination to pursue and punish offenders without exception. South Korea previously repatriated scam-related Korean nationals from Cambodia using chartered flights — 73 people on 23 January and 64 people on 18 October last year.
Experts assess that these simultaneous coordinated responses are producing not only enforcement results but also a broader deterrent effect. Scam organizations that once expanded by exploiting cross-border legal gaps and weak enforcement are now losing their operational foundations under international pressure that includes arrests, repatriations, heavy sentences, and even executions.
Ultimately, the solution is international cooperation. Online fraud and illegal gambling are typical transnational crimes in which servers, funds, and personnel move across multiple countries. No single country can eradicate them alone. Only when on-site crackdowns, rapid repatriation of nationals, strict punishment, and aggressive tracking investigations are combined can criminal networks be fully dismantled.
Pressure on Southeast Asian scam organizations has now entered a full-scale phase. As reflected in the South Korean government’s declaration to go “to the very end,” continued close cooperation among countries may lead to a real and lasting end to cross-border crime. –