Cambodia Shuts 72 Casinos As Year-Long Scam Crackdown Widens

Cambodia’s inspection of 195 licensed casinos found 72 facilities linked to online fraud, adding the casino sector to a wider national crackdown on scam centres.

Cambodia has shut or suspended dozens of casino operations after a year-long crackdown on online scam networks exposed alleged fraud activity inside the licensed casino sector.

According to government figures cited by Xinhua, authorities inspected 195 licensed casinos and found 72 facilities involved in online fraud. The wider campaign, conducted between June 2025 and June 2026, covered 28,512 locations and uncovered illegal online scam operations at 665 sites.

Industry reports said 19 casino licences were revoked, 30 were suspended and 23 venues had already ceased operations after their licences expired. The findings formed part of a report presented by Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith to Cambodia’s Cabinet on 24 July.

The crackdown also led to 737 raids on online scam centres, 268 cases being sent to court and 2,773 suspects being processed through the judicial system. Authorities said more than 21,000 foreign nationals from 38 countries had been deported by 30 June.

The figures show how closely Cambodia’s casino sector has become linked to the country’s broader online fraud problem. Scam compounds in Cambodia and neighbouring countries have been associated with telecom fraud, romance scams, crypto scams, forced labour and trafficking of foreign workers.

The government has framed the campaign as an effort to restore Cambodia’s international image and remove criminal networks from the gambling and online services economy. In April, Cambodia also enacted a law against online scams, introducing tougher penalties for organisers and ringleaders.

For the casino industry, the message is direct: licensing alone will not protect venues if regulators believe they are being used for cybercrime. Operators now face closer scrutiny over tenants, technology infrastructure, customer activity and links to offshore fraud networks.

The challenge is enforcement depth. Cambodia has announced previous crackdowns, but analysts have warned that criminal networks can reappear if financial backers, protection structures and cross-border payment channels remain untouched.

The closure of 72 casino-linked facilities is therefore a major enforcement signal, but not the end of the problem. The next test will be whether Cambodia can prevent scam groups from relocating to smaller sites, moving across borders or hiding behind licensed gambling infrastructure again.