How Cambodia Became the Center of the Global Scam Industry
Erin West joins investigative journalists Lindsey Kennedy and Nathan Paul Southern in Cambodia to find out how the scam industry and scam compounds evolved, and what’s happening with the “crackdown.”
Episode 47: What do illegal logging, casino money laundering, and China’s Belt and Road Initiative have in common? Everything. Erin West didn’t just talk with The Eyewitness Project’s Lindsey Kennedy and Nathan Paul Southern, she went to Cambodia to see firsthand the true state of the scam industry.
Based in Cambodia, Lindsey and Nathan were among the first journalists to expose the global scam-compound epidemic — long before mainstream media would touch the story. In the first of a two-part conversation, Lindsey and Nathan trace the arc from Sihanoukville’s casino boom and China’s capital flight crackdown to the rise of sprawling scam compounds that now dot Cambodia’s borders. They explain how criminal triads, Chinese state infrastructure, and corrupt political elites formed an unlikely but deeply entangled web — one that turned Cambodia’s economy into an engine of human trafficking, pig-butchering fraud, and cryptocurrency laundering targeting victims across the English-speaking world.
The episode covers the rise and fall of Chen Zhi and the Prince Group, the international sanctions that followed, the harrowing reality inside Mansion 8 and similar compounds, and the ongoing battle to repatriate trafficking survivors. “These are places where the officials are actively involved in bringing in criminal industry,” Nathan explains. “It has become a necessary part of the state — it’s like state level industry.”
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Evolution of Scamming in Cambodia: Five Key Takeaways
Cambodia’s criminal economy is deliberately structured from the top down. Unlike cartel-driven economies where rival factions clash violently for turf, Cambodia’s organized crime is hierarchical and state-adjacent. Senior political and military figures control distinct criminal sectors — from trafficking protected timber to online fraud — ensuring a steady flow of revenue and minimizing the conflict that would draw outside attention.
Organized crime groups leveraged China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure. China’s financing of roads, ports, and economic zones across Southeast Asia also created a cover story for organized crime. Gangsters moved to Cambodia to avoid Xi Jinping’s corruption crackdown, then hired Chinese state-owned construction firms to build illicit casino towns and scam compounds alongside genuine infrastructure investment. Cambodian authorities, indebted to Beijing, had little incentive to investigate.
Scam kingpins began to sponsor football clubs in Europe, then began to buy properties in New York and in London. They were becoming the advisors to the Prime Minister in Cambodia. It was just growing. — Nathan Southern, The Eyewitness Project
Cryptocurrency is the financial engine of the scam industry. Lindsey explains that violent criminal syndicates have weaponized the same financial idealism driving mainstream crypto adoption to build a parallel, untraceable economy. Stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar — particularly Tether — have become a preferred currency for trafficking fees, scam proceeds, and money laundering because they mirror fiat value while evading traditional banking controls. Criminal organizations have launched their own crypto tokens to move billions across borders.
Scam compounds rapidly evolved into a global threat. Early scam operations in Cambodia primarily targeted Chinese nationals. When China applied pressure, compound operators pivoted to focus on English speakers in Europe and North America. When Lindsey and Nathan alerted U.S. authorities, the pig-butchering model was already a multi-billion-dollar fraud wave hitting American consumers. Platforms like LinkedIn, Meta, and Match Group dismissed the threat as “ordinary” romance scamming. The failure to act early extended the window of harm by years.
In some of the very first conversations we had with international policing bodies, they were incredibly dismissive and just refused to even engage.— Lindsey Kennedy, The Eyewitness Project
Trafficking survivors face compounding crises even after rescue. For many survivors, escape from a compound is not the end of the ordeal. Repatriation is slow, expensive, and inconsistent. Some governments charge survivors fees or detain them. Psychological trauma from electric shocks, sexual violence, and coerced fraud is severe, yet mental-health infrastructure is nearly nonexistent in repatriation pipelines. The reliance on grassroots rescue and fund-raising efforts underscores how dramatically the formal international response has lagged behind the scale of the crisis.
In the West, a lot of people just don’t believe that a country like Cambodia could have such a sophisticated kind of organized crime. — Lindsey Kennedy, The Eyewitness Project
Who Is Lindsey Kennedy?
Lindsey Kennedy is an investigative journalist and Research Director at the Eyewitness Project. Her work focuses on exposing transnational organized crime, cyber slavery, and all forms of trafficking networks across Southeast Asia and beyond, with particular expertise in criminal financial flows and the movement of illicit funds.
She has helped coordinate the rescue of dozens of victims from scam compounds and is increasingly focused on the humanitarian crisis facing those who escape but remain stranded without support or a way home.
For years, Lindsey has been at the forefront of raising global awareness about cyber slavery and the scam economy, including bringing the issue into new arenas such as European football at Play the Game. She has contributed to major investigations and documentaries on the topic and has presented her work to the United Nations and other international forums.
Who Is Nathan Paul Southern?
Nathan Paul Southern is a security specialist, investigative journalist, and Operations Director at the Eyewitness Project. He investigates the overlaps between crime, conflict and corruption with a particular focus on the global scam and human trafficking crisis, working on the ground across Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
He has helped coordinate the rescue of dozens of victims from scam compounds and is actively working on the humanitarian fallout, supporting foreign nationals who escape but are left stranded without documents, money, or a way home.
For years, Nathan has been at the forefront of raising awareness about cyber slavery and the global scam crisis. He regularly briefs governments, international policing bodies, and organizations, including UNODC and Interpol, with a focus on how organized crime, conflict, and corruption are increasingly converging.
Episode Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Journey in Cambodia
07:45 Understanding Organized Crime in Cambodia
10:06 The Rise of Casinos and Chinese Influence
14:02 Belt and Road Initiative: Infrastructure and Crime
16:34 The Complex Relationship Between China and Criminal Groups
24:19 The Role of Cryptocurrency in Scams
27:46 The Emergence of Scam Compounds
32:14 Realization of Human Trafficking and Scams
36:26 Challenges in Raising Awareness
42:56 The Complexity of Cambodia’s Criminal Economy
More from The Eyewitness Project
Global Initiative against Transnational Crime
Foreign Policy: Are Scam Compounds The Real Cause of Cambodia-Thailand Fighting? (September 2025)
Yes, these next articles are older. That’s why they’re here. THIS is how long The Eyewitness Project has been publishing their investigations and reporting on the scam economy. ~ Editor
The Dial: Cambodia’s Billion Dollar Scam (October 2024)
The Guardian: Cambodia’s modern slavery nightmare: The human trafficking crisis overlooked by authorities (November 2022)
South China Morning Post: Laos’ criminal casino empire: Chinese gangsters suspected of running brothels and online scams, and trafficking humans, animal parts and drugs (October 2022)
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