Cambodia's One-Year Crackdown Report Details Casino Inspections and Online Scam Operations
Written by Eden Brooks · Jul 29, 2026
Cambodia's One-Year Crackdown Report Details Casino Inspections and Online Scam Operations
Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith presented a one-year report on Cambodia's online scam crackdown to a Cabinet meeting in July 2026, and the document outlined results from a nationwide inspection of all 195 licensed casinos where authorities identified 72 facilities linked to online fraud activities. The findings covered operations between June 2025 and June 2026, including raids conducted at 737 scam centers alongside broader inspections of 28,500 locations that uncovered illegal operations at 665 sites, while 19 casino licenses faced revocation, 30 received suspensions, and 23 casinos closed after their licenses expired without renewal.
Inspection Scope and Key Discoveries
Authorities carried out systematic checks across the country's licensed casino sector, and the process revealed that nearly 37 percent of the 195 facilities had connections to online fraud schemes according to data compiled in the report. Teams examined physical premises and digital infrastructure at each location, which led to the identification of specific sites where scam operations overlapped with legitimate gambling activities, and these discoveries prompted immediate regulatory actions including license reviews and enforcement measures.
Raids targeted 737 confirmed scam centers during the twelve-month period, while parallel inspections extended to 28,500 additional locations across urban and rural areas, and this broader sweep exposed 665 sites running unauthorized operations that violated existing regulations. Officials coordinated these efforts with international partners, and the report noted that cooperation helped trace cross-border networks involved in the fraudulent schemes.
Regulatory Actions and License Outcomes
Following the inspections, regulators revoked 19 casino licenses outright, suspended 30 others pending further review, and allowed 23 facilities to cease operations once their existing licenses reached expiration without extension. These measures reduced the number of active venues tied to fraudulent activities, and enforcement teams focused on dismantling the infrastructure that supported online scam operations from within casino properties.
Prime Minister Hun Manet described the report as marking a major step forward in the government's ongoing campaign, and his remarks came during the same Cabinet session where the findings were formally delivered. The presentation highlighted both the scale of the inspections and the tangible results achieved through sustained enforcement, while also referencing continued collaboration with foreign authorities to address the international dimensions of the scam networks.
Broader Context of Enforcement Efforts
The one-year period saw authorities expand their focus beyond traditional gambling venues to include locations that hosted online fraud operations disguised as casino-related businesses, and this shift allowed teams to address a wider range of illegal activities. Data from the inspections showed that many of the 665 uncovered sites operated without proper licensing, and officials applied existing laws to close these operations quickly once evidence was gathered.
International cooperation played a central role in several cases, with Cambodian agencies sharing information that helped identify scam centers linked to networks operating across multiple countries, and this collaboration contributed to the success of raids conducted at the 737 targeted locations. The report presented to the Cabinet included breakdowns of these joint efforts without specifying individual partner nations.
Outcomes Presented in July 2026
By the time Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith delivered the findings in July 2026, the combined actions had produced measurable reductions in the number of casinos and other sites connected to online fraud, and the statistics reflected both the initial inspections and the subsequent regulatory decisions. The 72 casinos flagged during the nationwide review represented a significant portion of the total licensed sector, prompting the series of license revocations and suspensions that followed.
Those involved in compiling the report emphasized the importance of ongoing monitoring, and the data indicated that enforcement would continue in the months ahead to prevent new operations from emerging in previously cleared areas. The Cabinet received the full set of figures, including details on the 28,500 inspections and the 665 illegal sites discovered during the process.
Conclusion
The one-year report on Cambodia's online scam crackdown provided a detailed account of inspections, raids, and regulatory outcomes across the casino sector and related sites, and the figures presented to the Cabinet in July 2026 documented 72 casinos tied to fraud out of 195 inspected, along with actions taken against hundreds of additional locations. These results stemmed directly from coordinated enforcement between June 2025 and June 2026, and the government continues to track developments in this area through established channels.