25 Japanese Nationals Deported from Cambodia Over Suspected Involvement in Online Scams

Suspects aged 20 to 42, arrested in Phnom Penh, accused of running multimillion yen fraudulent phone operations from Cambodia, repatriated on a government-chartered flight following tip-off to Cambodian police from Japanese counterparts.

25 Japanese nationals, aged between 20 and 42, were deported from Cambodia to Japan over suspicions of their involvement in online scam operations making fraudulent phone calls posing as nursing home staff and lawyers to victims in Japan.
These individuals were arrested in Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, in September and transported back to Japan on a government-chartered flight following a tip-off from Japanese police to their Cambodian counterparts.
The deportation is not the first of its kind, similar operation was carried out in April when 19 Japanese nationals, suspected of participating in phone and online scams, were deported from Cambodia.
Cybercrime, specifically online scams, are becoming a major issue in Asia, with U.N.'s human rights office report suggesting that criminal gangs have forced hundreds of thousands of people into participating in unlawful online activities such as bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes, impacting at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and 100,000 in Cambodia.
These scam networks that are frequently linked to transnational organized crime are typically established in countries with weak law enforcement and attract educated young workers with promises of high earnings, however, these individuals often find themselves trapped and forced to participate in these illegal activities.