The outrageous methods of scam parks in Cambodia continue to shock as more are revealed. The BBC recently reported that the "Royal Hill" casino on the Cambodia-Thailand border houses a massive scam operation. The park is filled with multi-national "fake police stations" and "fake banks" to steal personal information, and even features "employees" from Uganda who have come forward to reveal their inhuman treatment inside, such as electric shocks, being locked in dark rooms, and being whipped with canes.
The report states that the "Royal Hill" casino is located on the Cambodia-Thailand border. According to on-site observations by reporters, the building contains multiple elaborately decorated rooms simulating police stations and public security bureaus of countries like China, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, and India, as well as a fake Vietnamese bank. The rooms even display various uniforms, including fake Chinese police uniforms, and have forged subpoenas from São Paulo police accusing victims of "money laundering" to intimidate them into transferring money or handing over personal details. The entire scam park is like a movie studio, fully stocked with props.
This scam base was exposed as a result of a border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia last year. The Thai military accused drones from the casino of launching attacks on Thai territory, leading to air strikes and shelling in December. Thailand subsequently took over the area, bringing this previously little-known scam factory to light.
AI Voice-Changing Poses as Wealthy Women to Defraud; Bathroom Breaks Require Registration and Waste Time
In a deserted office, BBC reporters found Chinese-language documents listing severe penalties. If employees fail to find "potential clients" to lure into traps on a given day, they receive five lashes with a cane; if the quota is missed for three consecutive days, the punishment doubles to ten lashes. Even bathroom break times are strictly logged, and employees are forced to share personal photos to gain victims' trust.
An Ugandan man named Wilson, who was lured to the park, revealed he was forced to work for over 15 hours a day, using AI technology to change his voice and appearance to pose online as a 37-year-old wealthy woman, seducing American men into falling in love and "investing" in scam products. He stated that those who refused would be sent to a "dark room" to be tortured or electrically shocked. "Even during the Thai bombing, we were still forced to keep working."
The report says that "Royal Hill" is owned by well-known Cambodian tycoon Ly Yong Phat. Ly Yong Phat has extremely close ties to the ruling Hun Sen family and has received the elite "Oknha" title. Despite being sanctioned by the US and multiple countries for suspected human trafficking and online scamming, he continues to live luxuriously in Cambodia, unaffected.
Analysis suggests that since 2019, when Cambodia banned online gambling and after the pandemic, local crime syndicates transformed into online scamming operations, using casino licenses as cover to lure young people from various countries to participate in the scam industry. Although this major base has now been exposed, there are concerns that similar facilities remain hidden in other corners along Cambodia's border.