United Kingdom and Cambodia join forces to crackdown on online scam centres
New agreement will boost intelligence sharing between UK and Cambodian law enforcement to dismantle scam operations.
Lord Hanson with His Excellency Sar Sokha, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia and Minister of Interior, following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding
The British public will be better protected from online scams as a new agreement is signed between the UK and Cambodian governments.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed on 23 September, will for the first time enable joint working between the UK and Cambodia to tackle networks of illegal scam centres.
Scam centres are places where fraud is scripted and scaled to target thousands of victims at once. They deploy sophisticated tactics to lure victims into handing over cash, including through fake romantic relationships. Many are based out of Southeast Asia which has emerged as one of the world’s biggest hubs for scam centres.
They deploy sophisticated tactics to lure victims into handing over cash, including through fake romantic relationships.
Those conducting the scams are often trafficked foreign nationals, trapped and forced to carry out the fraud under threat of torture.
Under the agreement, the UK and Cambodian authorities will increase data sharing, coordinate activity against the criminal gangs, bring perpetrators to justice and ensure victims of trafficking receive the support they need.
Minister for Fraud, Lord Hanson, said:
Fraudsters don’t respect international borders. Over two-thirds of fraud affecting the UK originates overseas so agreements like this are vital to reducing the threat to the public here at home.
I’m pleased to have reached this agreement with Cambodia which will strengthen our work to dismantle scam centres and stop these criminals profiting from misery. We will pursue fraudsters wherever they operate from.
The UK will help to build the capacity of Cambodian law enforcement through training in cyber investigations, digital forensics and investigative procedures.
The 2 governments will also work together through the Global Fraud Taskforce, jointly developed by the UK and INTERPOL. This will see them work to identify suspects and support operations to dismantle scam centres, and to trace and disrupt the illicit financial flows that fund them.
Minister for Fraud, Lord Hanson, represented the UK at the International Conference on Combating Online Scams in Cambodia.
Lord Hanson also visited the Golden Fortune scam compound which had been dismantled following Cambodian action.
This agreement comes following the joint UK and US sanctions against a network that operates illegal scam centres across Southeast Asia in October. This resulted in millions of pounds in UK-based properties being frozen.
The new MoU builds on the launch of the government’s Fraud Strategy, which established a new Online Crime Centre, uniting government, police, intelligence agencies, banks and tech firms to ramp up the disruption of fraudsters.
Backed by £250 million, the strategy sets out how the government will make the UK the hardest place for fraudsters to operate, as one in fourteen adults and one in four businesses have become victims.