Southeast Asia steps up crackdown on online fraud

Washington [US], July 18: Many Southeast Asian countries are stepping up crackdowns, establishing specialized units to prevent and enhance coordination to deal with online fraud crimes.
The Khmer Times on July 17 quoted Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet as warning provincial governors, police chiefs and other officials of the possibility of being transferred or forced to resign if they lack determination to deal with online fraud . The warning was issued in the context of Cambodia and many Southeast Asian countries stepping up their fight against online fraud.
Human trafficking
Cambodian police said they had arrested more than 1,000 people in a three-day crackdown on online scams across the country. AFP reported that more than 1,000 suspects, mostly foreigners, were arrested on July 16. Many of those rescued from the scams said they had been trafficked or lured with false promises. Many of the scams were based in casinos or isolated compounds suspected of being linked to human trafficking and cybercrime.
In Myanmar, according to China Daily , police from both countries have coordinated a series of operations, arresting more than 57,000 Chinese people accused of being involved in phone scams. Recently, China prosecuted 21 key members of a scam ring operating in northern Myanmar, involved in more than 31,000 scams totaling more than 10.6 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion). Investigators also said the ring was involved in a series of crimes such as kidnapping , torture, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.
Copy the trick
In the Philippines, the Philippine National Police-ACG's Cybercrime Division recently warned that most of the online scammers arrested by the authorities had copied the tricks of working for foreign online gambling companies (POGOs). "You can't say they are still involved in POGOs. Our countrymen have learned and done it themselves," PNP-ACG Director Bernard Yang was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as saying. He said that on average, only one in seven online scam suspects arrested in the Philippines is a foreigner. Last week, Congressman Mark Villar submitted a bill to the Philippine Senate to establish a fraud prevention center to receive all related information and denunciations.
In a similar measure to combat online fraud, Parinya Phommaviseth, an official at the Lao Ministry of Information and Communications, said the country is working with the Ministry of Public Security and the National Internet Center to set up a cyber security transaction reporting center to help monitor and prevent online fraud more effectively, according to the Vientiane Times .
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper