Financial Crime World

Cambodia’s Financial Crime Hotspots Emerge as Major Concern for Indian Victims

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia - A staggering 48% of financial frauds targeting Indians have been traced back to Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. The majority of these crimes originate from “scam compounds” in the country, which resemble call centers where fraudsters make calls to unsuspecting people in India using Indian mobile phone numbers.

Financial Frauds on the Rise

According to Rajesh Kumar, CEO of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Indians lost over ₹1,776 crore in 89,054 cases of financial crimes between January and April this year. The I4C has received complaints on its national cyber crime portal and 1930 helpline, with many web applications used to commit these frauds written in Chinese language.

Investment Fraud: The Most Common Type

The most common type of scam is investment fraud, with 62,687 complaints received by the I4C. This type of fraud typically involves luring victims through social media, promising them easy money for sitting at home. Kumar warned that many Indians have fallen prey to these scams, losing large sums of money.

Scam Compounds in Cambodia

In a shocking revelation, Kumar disclosed that on May 20, several Indians working in a suspected scam compound in Sihanouk city, Cambodia protested against their employers after being forced to work long hours without pay. The Andhra Pradesh police are investigating the case and have arrested three recruiting agents.

Indian Government Takes Steps

The Indian government has taken steps to combat these crimes, with the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) set to come into effect from July 1, which will categorize such crimes as “organised crime”. The I4C has also blocked:

  • 3.25 lakh mule bank accounts
  • 595 apps
  • More than 3,000 URLs in the past four months

Indian Embassy’s Concerns

The Indian Embassy is working with the Ministry of External Affairs to trace over 5,000 Indians who have gone missing while on tourist visas in Cambodia. Kumar warned that many of these individuals are being forced into sweatshop conditions and subjected to human trafficking.

High-Level Committee Constituted

In response to the growing menace, a high-level inter-ministerial committee has been constituted to mitigate cybercrime originating from south-east Asia targeting India.