HANOI, Vietnam – More than 300 Vietnamese nationals have been arrested on internet fraud charges after being repatriated from Cambodia, where authorities recently dismantled a major transnational cyberscam operation.

The 343 arrests were made on Friday by police in Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, which borders Cambodia, following the repatriation of nearly 400 Vietnamese citizens on 17 March.

According to Dong Nai police, those arrested “were part of a transnational online fraud ring recently dismantled in Cambodia”. Cambodia’s immigration department reported that 776 Vietnamese nationals “involved in online fraud cases” were deported to Vietnam on the same date.

Sophisticated social media scams

The accused had operated from a casino in Poipet, a Cambodian border city near Thailand, using social media and messaging applications including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook to target victims.

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Vietnamese police said the scammers specifically targeted “internet users, especially the elderly, frequent social media users, online traders and those with limited technological knowledge” within Vietnam.

Authorities did not disclose the total amount stolen by the criminal group.

Growing regional problem

The arrests highlight the scale of cybercrime operations across Southeast Asia, where organised criminal gangs use casinos, hotels and fortified compounds as bases for sophisticated online scams targeting victims worldwide, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Cambodia hosts dozens of scam centres employing tens of thousands of people in what rights monitors describe as a multibillion-dollar illicit industry involving both willing participants and trafficking victims.

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This latest operation follows other significant cases in Vietnam. In January, police arrested 35 people for allegedly defrauding victims of $350 million (about R5.99 billion) through advanced technology fraud and online gambling schemes. The previous month, 22 Vietnamese suspects were arrested in Cambodia in a joint operation between the two countries.

Vietnamese police reported last year that since 2020, victims in the country have lost $1.5 billion (about R25.68 billion) across more than 24 000 cases of internet fraud.

From hubs throughout Southeast Asia, scammers typically lure internet users into fake romantic relationships and fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, stealing tens of billions of dollars annually from victims globally.