Thirty-one Chinese nationals were arrested by immigration police for running an online extortion scam.
The men and women were detained for operating the scam using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, which involves hackers targeting vulnerable internet protocol switches or phones to send costly international calls which are charged to the owner of the targeted VoIP device.
Khun Sambo, deputy director of the immigration department, said the detainees had committed a “transnational crime” and a “cross-border extortion case”.
The local Fresh News website reported Uk Heisela, chief of investigation at the immigration department, said three locations in the capital were raided as part of the operation.
San Chey, executive director of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in Cambodia, claimed that crime involving expats was increasing.
“It is not the first time [this has happened]. So the authorities should prioritize administrative checks on foreigners who are living in Cambodia,” he said.
Another raid on a VoIP scam ring earlier this month saw some 70 Chinese nationals deported.
