Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng has dropped the numbers on the city's ongoing crackdown against online scam operations, showing that authorities have kept up the pressure over the past year.
Between last July and mid-August, joint task forces swept through 23,125 residential compounds, apartment blocks, and high-rises across the capital. In the process, they processed nearly 150,000 foreign nationals spanning 75 different countries.
Police sirens have become a regular fixture on the streets. During this period, authorities busted 196 scam operations and arrested 3,806 transnational suspects from 27 nations.
Landlords have also felt the heat. Under municipal Directive No. 03, properties found to be shielding unregistered foreign tenants faced heavy penalties. A total of 127 locations were slapped with fines, amounting to a combined 3.03 billion riel—roughly $750,000.
Local media noted it is the most serious push yet by Phnom Penh authorities to clean up the sector. With police and auxiliary forces constantly patrolling rental properties, local property owners are finally sitting up straight. Still, life goes on as usual: watching another raid roll past his corner, a local coffee vendor just shook his head and stoked his stove a little higher.
