Broken computer monitors in bombed-out offices, scattered fake police uniforms and phoney hundred-dollar bills: these were the vestiges of a frantic escape of suspected cyberscammers fleeing a resort on the Cambodia-Thailand border.

Southeast Asia has become the epicentre of the multibillion-dollar online scam industry in which hundreds of thousands of fraudsters -- some trafficked, others willing workers -- cheat internet users globally with romance and cryptocurrency investment schemes.

Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

Tags

Recommended for you