Fake rooms, props and a script to lure victims: inside an abandoned Cambodia scam centre

## Summary
Walking through abandoned scam compound in Cambodia Fake rooms, props and a script to lure victims: inside an abandoned Cambodia scam centre Sprawling compound, including mock-up banks and police offices, uncovered by Thai military during border clashes I t is as if you have walked into a branch of one of Vietnam’s banks. It’s one of various “mock up” rooms inside a sprawling compound on the Thai-Cambodian border, where criminal groups are accused of using elaborate and industrial-scale fraud schemes to trick victims into handing over money. Within the six-floor building, in the Cambodian border town of O’Smach, there are rooms designed to look like offices for police forces from Australia, Singapore and China. View image in fullscreen A room imitating an Australian police station in an abandoned scam centre in O’Smach town on the Thai-Cambodian border.

## Article Content
Walking through abandoned scam compound in Cambodia
Fake rooms, props and a script to lure victims: inside an abandoned Cambodia scam centre
Sprawling compound, including mock-up banks and police offices, uncovered by Thai military during border clashes
I
t is as if you have walked into a branch of one of Vietnam’s banks. A row of customer service desks, divided by plastic screens, with landline phones, promotional leaflets and staff business cards. A seated waiting area and a private meeting room. All of it features the OCB bank’s logo, or its trademark green colour.
This is not a genuine bank branch, however. It’s one of various “mock up” rooms inside a sprawling compound on the Thai-Cambodian border, where criminal groups are accused of using elaborate and industrial-scale fraud schemes to trick victims into handing over money.
The scammers behind the compound targeted people not just in Vietnam, but across Asia, Australia and South America, according to documents and props discovered inside.
Within the six-floor building, in the Cambodian border town of O’Smach, there are rooms designed to look like offices for police forces from Australia, Singapore and China. There are even fake uniforms, badges and scripts to be read over the phone to victims.
View image in fullscreen
A fake Brazilian police set inside the scam centre in O’Smach.
Photograph: Getty Images
The Guardian was given access to the compound on Thursday as part of a media visit facilitated by the Thai military. It bombed the site and seized control of the area during border clashes with Cambodia last year, claiming it was used by the Cambodian military to launch drone operations.
A ceasefire was agreed in December after three weeks of fighting, but
Thailand
has retained control of the area and other Cambodian villages, despite protests from its neighbour, which has condemned its presence as “unacceptable and unlawful”.
In a statement, the Cambodian information minister, Neth Pheaktra, accused Thailand of using “so-called scam centre concerns as a pretext for actions that undermine Cambodia’s territorial sovereignty”.
View image in fullscreen
Fake US dollar bills lie on the floor after suspected cyberscammers fled the centre.
Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images
The buildings at O’Smach are pierced with bullet holes, and the floors are covered with collapsed ceiling panels, shattered glass and debris. Workers and their bosses appear to have fled as fighting escalated. In their haste, they left behind uneaten food and drinks – as well as vast piles of paperwork, the various tools used to carry out fraud schemes and stacks of what appear to be fake $100 notes.
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A tour of the building suggests a highly organised operation. There are rooms filled with desks for 30 people, each padded with noise-cancelling foam. Whiteboards keep track of workers’ targets: “No money, already took 279k,” says a note left beside the name of an apparent victim.
A notebook found in a room targeting Brazilian victims includes daily updates: “For today there is no customer [who] will transfer the money to us – they are trying to grab new customer and talk with old,” reads a November entry.
Office room with booths and desks used by scammers
Scam centres, a hugely lucrative industry, have
proliferated across south-east Asian countries
over recent years. In Cambodia alone, online fraud schemes are estimated to generate $12.5bn annually, half the country’s formal GDP, according to an
estimate by the United States Institute of Peace
.
After mounting international pressure, including UK and US sanctions imposed in October against the
alleged scamming kingpin Chen Zhi
, Cambodia has promised to crack down on cybercrime. Chen, a Chinese-born businessman who built a vast conglomerate in Cambodia, was
extradited to China in January
. Cambodia pledged to eliminate scamming by the end of April, and says it has closed 200 scam sites.
View image in fullscreen
A room disguised as a Chinese police station.
Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images
Documents written in multiple languages, taken as evidence from the O’Smach site by Thai authorities, provide tips on how to lure people into making a fake investment, including through romance scams.
“Create a touching family story (example about losing a love ones, struggling alone etc) to encourage clients to spontaneously express concern and empathy,” says one guide.
Scammers should “create a sense of fantasy by using phrases like ‘future plans’ or ‘we can do this together someday’”, the document reads. It suggests phrases for scammers to use: “I think I’m getting used to talking to you every day.”
View image in fullscreen
A work room damaged by fighting between Thailand and Cambodia.
Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images
Bosses even appear to have refined workers’ scamming abilities through multiple choice quizzes.

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Kristina Amerhauser, senior analyst at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, said that Chen’s arrest was an important step forward, but added: “Many other well-known scam bosses continue to operate with impunity alongside the local elites and politicians who protect and conspire with them.” Explore more on these topics Cybercrime Cambodia Thailand Scams Asia Pacific Internet features Share Reuse this content

### Areas for Consideration
- Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Documents written in multiple languages, taken as evidence from the O’Smach site by Thai authorities, provide tips on how to lure people into making a fake investment, including through romance scams. “Create a touching family story (example about losing a love ones, struggling alone etc) to encourage clients to spontaneously express concern and empathy,” says one guide.
- In the corridors, the walls feature motivational slogans: “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible!” Another sign, partly faded, reads: “The best view comes after the hardest climb.” It is unclear if scam workers were victims of trafficking.

### Implications
- A notebook found in a room targeting Brazilian victims includes daily updates: “For today there is no customer [who] will transfer the money to us – they are trying to grab new customer and talk with old,” reads a November entry.
- Scammers should “create a sense of fantasy by using phrases like ‘future plans’ or ‘we can do this together someday’”, the document reads.
- Pol Maj Gen Siriwat Deepor, deputy spokesperson for the Royal Thai police, said scam networks were similar in structure to companies – with a training department, and a finance or money-laundering section that deals with money and opens mule accounts. “I think they also have a creative section that will come up with ideas on how to deceive people in each country,” he said, adding that tactics changed by the season.
- Many former workers from compounds elsewhere across the region have reported being tricked into travelling to scam centres , saying they were lured with the promise of a legitimate job then held against their will and, in some cases, subject to violence.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers scam, cambodia, workers topics. Notable strengths include discussion of scam. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1430.