00:05A global scam industry has been operating behind these walls.
00:10Billions are stolen here in Cambodia every year.
00:13Using fake identities, people around the world are lured into relationships and then convinced to invest online.
00:20Many of those behind the screens come from Indonesia.
00:23They say they're victims too – trafficked, beaten and forced to scam strangers.
00:28Now Cambodia is cracking down. Hundreds of compounds have been raided and thousands freed.
00:34A huge criminal network is under pressure.
00:55Lunchtime in one of Cambodia's largest rescue shelters for former scam workers.
00:59The people here were recruited from Indonesia, one of the biggest groups in an illegal industry that has attracted workers
01:07from across the globe.
01:10After a nationwide crackdown shut down the huge scam facilities, they turned to the Indonesian embassy for help.
01:20Many, like 32-year-old Noventri, overstayed their visas and now wait for documents to finally return home.
01:32I'm here for one week, one month.
01:36Noventri arrived a year ago only to learn that she has to work in a scam facility in Cambodia.
01:43We only use her first name to protect her identity.
01:46When we didn't reach our task, they can't make a physical punishment for us.
01:54And they put me in a bank and tied my hand.
01:59And in three days, they didn't even give me any food.
02:04Three days, I slept there.
02:08Thousands of Indonesians have passed through this rescue facility and their stories are often similar.
02:14They applied for what they believed were legitimate jobs abroad, like Rohim,
02:19but instead ended up in scam centers run by criminal networks.
02:27These are the scars from the abuse.
02:32I was beaten with a sharp weapon because I couldn't make any money.
02:39Anyone who failed to bring in money would be beaten and tortured.
02:46Rohim and Noventri used to work in huge housing complexes like these.
02:51Scam centers can be found across Cambodia, often concealed inside special economic zones and heavily guarded.
03:00In recent months, Cambodian authorities say they have raided hundreds of suspected scam locations
03:06and shut down nearly 200 centers, like this one in the capital Phnom Penh.
03:13Inside the compounds, workers were trained to carry out a range of scams.
03:18Many focused on what's known as romance or investment schemes, designed to manipulate victims emotionally
03:24before convincing them to send money.
03:29Noventri and her boyfriend Salman explain how this works.
03:33The instructions on how to build fake online identities are highly detailed.
03:39First, what we do is character packaging.
03:43Like, we should make a good character, good model.
03:48So, we need a beautiful girl with a good influencer, like influencer.
03:56So, we use his picture, videos, and every detail of her.
04:03I use a woman's face. I'm a man, but I use a woman's face for the man loves me.
04:12And then that will give a chance to earn money from a man.
04:22Investigators say the first contact is designed to appear accidental.
04:26Conversations are still visible on the screens.
04:33Excuse me, is this the contact for the travel agency in Paris?
04:37Is this the number of the translator in Norway?
04:41Victims are often single businessmen or pensioners.
04:44They're slowly drawn into an investment opportunity, a fake cryptocurrency or trading platform that appears legitimate, says Jason Tower,
04:53from the United States Institute of Peace in Bangkok, who studies organized crime networks in Southeast Asia.
05:02Yeah, so what you're seeing here is one of these fake trading platforms that the scammers are using to steal
05:08money from a global population.
05:10And you can kind of see the targets here. You've got, you know, English-speaking countries, you've got Japan, you've
05:16got Korea, Chinese-speaking countries.
05:18There's Spain, there's Germany in there. So they're going for a real global population with these scams.
05:26For Cambodia, there's a lot at stake. The country is trying to protect its reputation as a cultural tourism destination.
05:34And many citizens feel the kingdom has been taken hostage by criminal networks.
05:39The scam industry is vast, generating an estimated 40 to 50 billion US dollars a year across Cambodia, Myanmar and
05:48Laos.
05:49The government of Prime Minister Hun Manet has pledged to dismantle it with an ambitious plan to remove scam operations
05:56within months.
06:01The scam network, what we call the black economy, is destroying our honest economy.
06:12You know, it's put a bad reputation on Cambodia, distract tourism and investment.
06:18So this is the reason why we need to clean this up, so that the economic, the real economic activities
06:25can be promoted.
06:28Former scammer, Agus, who prefers not to reveal his real name, says he's skeptical.
06:34He was freed during the recent crackdown, but doubts the industry will disappear anytime soon.
06:43Actually, when the crackdown, the boss gets a call from the officer, maybe from police or from the army.
06:53They call, they will have operations. So the boss let us go. Just let us go, but don't give our
07:01passport, don't give our salary.
07:05Agus says he knows many scammers who've simply relocated overnight and resumed their work elsewhere.
07:12Experts say it's a long road ahead for Cambodian authorities.
07:19If the approach of Cambodia is simply we're going to have a one month campaign and this, you know, problem
07:25that developed over a period of a decade due to governance failures due to mass corruption and due to state
07:32embedded criminality, there's no way that this is going to be effective.
07:35This is going to take, I think, a long term, a long term period really of reform where the government
07:42deals with the corruption, deals with all of the underlying factors that enabled the scam industry to grow to that
07:48size and scale.
07:49For Indonesian authorities, getting their nationals out of the country is currently the biggest challenge.
07:57Many have overstayed their Cambodian visas and now wait outside the embassy for documents allowing them to return home without
08:04facing heavy fines.
08:09Long lists show who may be able to board a flight.
08:16Another challenge is determining who's a victim and who knowingly took part in the scams, says Krisnaci Partadireca from the
08:24Indonesian embassy.
08:27From our preliminary investigation, there is no indication that they are forced to work here or being the victim of
08:37the trafficking in person.
08:39So there's indications that they knew what kind of work they do here in Cambodia.
08:49Ambassador Santo Darmo Sumarto recommends tighter travel controls, saying there's evidence that some Indonesians returned to scam operations after being
08:59helped to return home.
09:04How is it possible that somebody who has never worked in front of a computer before, somebody who doesn't speak
09:10a language other than Bahasa Indonesia or even a local dialect,
09:14how does somebody like that have in their heads that they could actually make a salary?
09:19So this is one of the things that we have to tackle. Somehow people believe that this is a highway
09:25towards getting rich.
09:27Former schemer Agus confirms that the work can be picked up quickly and doesn't require any particular skills.
09:36Even if we cannot speak English very well, the China boss, they have one machine we call AIA master.
09:45They can do everything. Even if your face is not handsome, they can make you handsome.
09:51Even if you're not beautiful, your face can be beautiful.
09:56Salman and Oventri hope they'll soon get clearance from Cambodia to return home.
10:01They also know people who cooperated and made significant amounts of money in the industry.
10:10Other people are very good with that. They are very expert and professional for scam people.
10:17They are first learners. They reach a lot of money from them. They are going to be a leader, going
10:24to be a consultant. They have a position.
10:29Once they return to Jakarta, everyone here will be questioned.
10:33Although the criminal operations they joined weren't on Indonesian soil, they could still face legal consequences.
10:41Rohim is very worried about this.
10:44We're asking for compassion. We were tortured, exhausted and not even paid.
10:49If we return to Indonesia only to face legal charges, what does that mean for us?
10:54We just want to go home and be free. It's like escaping a cage to just end up in another
10:59one.
11:02The Cambodian government says that in recent months, more than 210,000 foreign nationals have left the country and returned
11:11home.
11:12But observers say new recruits still continue to arrive at the capital's airport.
11:18Targeting low-level workers alone won't solve the problem.
11:25A coordinated international effort is required to dismantle the networks behind the system, says Jason Tower.
11:34This is a new illicit market. It's a new modality of scamming that has really only started to hit the
11:41whole of the globe over the past three to four years.
11:44And so I think the law enforcement is now starting to catch up.
11:47But I think we have to recognize that this is now a global network.
11:50It's based out of Southeast Asia primarily now, but its tentacles are there all across the globe.
12:00Back at the shelter, Indonesians listen to a love song.
12:04In bitter irony, the lyrics speak of love that endures across distance.
12:09Familiar words for many here, words once used to build trust and ultimately to deceive.
12:17Help me there, huh.
12:23make my wish.
12:30Once again get out ofWWM.
12:33Ten~!
12:33T Bowllli t Two A
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