Policies and Patterns: State-Abetted Transnational Crime in Cambodia as a Global Security Threat
“The epicenter for this industry is Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. In these countries alone, the cybercriminal labor force easily exceeds 350,000 people. Conservative estimates place annual revenue generated by regional scam syndicates between $50 and 75 billion. This makes transnational fraud perhaps the most dominant economic activity in the entire Mekong sub-region—equivalent to nearly half of total GDP in the primary host countries”
“Rivaled only by Myanmar, Cambodia is likely the absolute global epicenter of next-gen transnational fraud in 2025 and is certainly the country most primed for explosive growth going forward. Scamming has become an enormously profitable domestic industry, likely unparalleled in the Kingdom’s history. Formal estimates range from $12.5 to $19 billion dollars per year, equivalent to as much as 60% of GDP and significantly eclipsing the country’s largest formal sector, the garment and textiles industry (see Figure 1 on page 5). Yet, despite its unprecedented scale and harm, this phenomenon remains significantly under-explored.”