Thai military forces have uncovered an abandoned scam compound in the Cambodian border town of O’Smach, revealing an elaborate operation designed to defraud victims across Asia, Australia and South America. The complex, seized during border clashes last year, contains mock-up bank branches and police offices used by criminal groups to trick people into handing over money.
The six-floor building includes rooms designed to resemble offices for police forces from Australia, Singapore and China, complete with fake uniforms, badges and scripts for phone calls. One area mimics a branch of Vietnam’s OCB bank, with customer service desks, landline phones and promotional materials bearing the bank’s logo.
Documents and props left behind by fleeing workers indicate the scale of the operation. Whiteboards track workers’ targets, with notes such as “No money, already took 279k” beside a victim’s name. A notebook targeting Brazilian victims includes daily updates, with an entry reading: “For today there is no customer who will transfer the money to us.”
The Thai military bombed the site and seized control during border clashes with Cambodia in 2024, claiming it was used by Cambodian forces for drone operations. A ceasefire was agreed in December, but Thailand has retained control of the area, prompting protests from Cambodia, which called the presence “unacceptable and unlawful”.
Scam centres are a lucrative industry across Southeast Asia, with online fraud in Cambodia alone estimated to generate $12.5bn annually, half the country’s formal GDP. After international pressure, including UK and US sanctions, Cambodia has pledged to eliminate scamming by the end of April and says it has closed 200 sites.
