Cambodia approves draft law targeting cyberscammers

Cambodia's government approves a draft law to combat cyberscamming, imposing severe penalties on fraudsters targeting global internet users.

Cambodia's government approved a draft law Friday that will hand down harsh sentences against fraudsters running cyberscam operations, a Minster told AFP.

Cambodia has emerged as a hotspot for crime syndicates running a multibillion-dollar fraud industry that sees scammers lure internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.

Largely concentrated in Southeast Asia, the global cyberscam industry has reached "industrial proportions", with estimates of its annual revenues as high as $64 billion, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Some of the hundreds of thousands of people carrying out scams in the region are trafficked and held against their will, while others work voluntarily.

The draft law — which aims to stamp out transnational cyberscam operations — was approved during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hun Manet, Information Minister Neth Pheaktra told AFP.

He said the draft bill, which will be sent to parliament soon for approval, would "eliminate online scams from Cambodian territory".