In Cambodia, scammers are also victims

Many cyber-scammers are forced to carry out scams against their will.

A frame of a phone in 101 East's Forced to Scam: Cambodia’s Cyber Slaves.
A frame of a phone in 101 East's Forced to Scam: Cambodia’s Cyber Slaves. [Al Jazeera]

What happens when you fall victim to a cyber scam? And who’s really at fault? In Cambodia, an entire economy of these scams is operating, and the scammers Al Jazeera found in a city called Sihanoukville are often held against their will. Tens of thousands of people are being trafficked, and authorities are alleged to be complicit.

In this episode: 

  • Mary Ann Jolley (@jolleyma), senior reporter at Al Jazeera’s 101 East

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Amy Walters with our host Halla Mohieddeen. Ruby Zaman fact-checked this episode. 

Our production team includes Chloe K. Li, Miranda Lin, Ashish Malhotra, and Negin Owliaei. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Tim St. Clair mixed this episode. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Source: Al Jazeera