Authorities rescued over 200 foreigners from a scam ring in Cambodia.
215 foreigners, including 109 Thai citizens, were rescued by Cambodian police from a fraudulent complex in the city of Poipet, the Bangkok Post reported on February 23.
The raid, which took place on February 22nd targeting a three-story building in the border city of Poipet in Banteay Meanchey province, was carried out by Cambodian police forces after receiving information that a fraud group had rented the building to operate online scams.
Cambodian police have successfully rescued 215 victims, including 109 Thais, 50 Pakistanis, 48 Indians, 5 Taiwanese (Chinese), and 3 Indonesians, Thai government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said on February 23.
"This is the largest number of Thai victims rescued from a building suspected of cyber fraud in both countries," Jirayu added, emphasizing that the raid was the result of a joint effort between Thailand and Cambodia to dismantle fraud centers.
In fact, the "easy job, high pay" scam has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, with thousands of Asian victims being lured to centers in the Cambodian border region. Victims are forced to carry out online scams and endure brutal torture if they fail to meet "quotas."
Recently, Southeast Asian countries have intensified their efforts to dismantle fraud centers through a series of coordinated crackdowns along the Thailand-Myanmar border.
According to Thai Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, Thailand has proactively cooperated with China and Myanmar to cut off water, electricity, and fuel supplies at five key locations along the Thai-Myanmar border in order to weaken and effectively prevent the activities of fraud gangs.
The Thai military also announced on February 22nd that China had repatriated 621 citizens rescued from detention centers in these areas over the past few days. This is part of a large-scale plan to rescue victims held captive by criminal gangs in Myawaddy.
