South Korean victims recount nightmare at scam centers in Cambodia

"I went after seeing a business advertisement, but it was a criminal organization. I was beaten and tortured before barely escaping, but I have no uninjured parts," a man in his 20s, who sells auto parts in Gyeongnam Province, South Korea, recounted his trip to Cambodia last year, as reported by Chosun on Thursday.

The man explained that he had received an offer from a "Cambodian parts supplier," who claimed they wanted to negotiate discounted products and would cover the cost of his one-way flight to Cambodia. Upon his arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport, a Chinese man and a Cambodian man greeted him. The moment he got into a black van, the Chinese man's behavior changed dramatically.

During the journey, he was threatened with a handgun and was unable to move, as two armed Chinese men kept constant surveillance on him. After a 40-minute ride, he arrived at a group of white buildings and was held there. He was given only seven Chinese dumplings a day to eat and drank yellowish tap water from a PET bottle, as bottled water was unavailable.

According to Chosun, the scam operation used voice phishing tactics, and the parts supplier's website was fraudulent. The victim was held captive in a criminal facility, where threats and physical abuse continued daily. The gang demanded he tell his family in South Korea to send money, open accounts in their name, and bring them to Cambodia.

When he refused, they subjected him to electric shocks. He was eventually rescued with the help of local Korean residents and the Korean Embassy in Cambodia after more than 10 days of captivity. However, the trauma left him with burn scars and severe damage to his corneas, leaving him almost completely blind.

He recalled that after arriving at the Phnom Penh police station and waiting for embassy staff to arrive, the criminals who had kidnapped him casually appeared. "The Chinese gang members, who should have been investigated, smoked cigarettes while joking with the police chief, guns holstered. I was terrified."

According to South Korean media, international online scam gangs based in Cambodia have been luring citizens with offers of "overseas jobs" or "high-paying jobs." Recently, they have expanded to posting fake business ads, kidnapping victims, and holding them captive for torture. The scammers also use South Korean-named accounts as "ghost accounts" to launder money stolen from victims.

The number of kidnapping and detention incidents involving Koreans in Cambodia has skyrocketed, rising from 10-20 cases annually in 2022 and 2023 to 220 in 2024, with 330 by August of this year, according to The Korea Herald. Victims are typically lured by online recruiters offering high-paying jobs, only to be coerced into criminal labor.

In another case, a man in his 20s from Jeju Island flew to Cambodia in June after seeing an advertisement for a high-paying part-time job. He told Chosun that he believed the advertisement, which promised 5 million won (over US$3,500) for two weeks of work.

With prior overseas restaurant experience, he thought nothing would go wrong. Upon arriving in Cambodia, he was taken to a building on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, where Chinese men wearing uniforms and carrying batons stood guard. They pointed electric shock machines and handguns at him, demanding his bank account password.

"Under relentless threats, I had no choice but to reveal my password," he said, as quoted by Chosun.

After 30 days of captivity, he managed to escape when a guard briefly left his post. However, the nightmare did not end when he returned to South Korea. The gang that kidnapped him in Cambodia had created several companies under his name and carried out fraud. As a result, all of his financial accounts were frozen, and he was investigated by South Korean police for allegedly defrauding tens of thousands of dollars.

In a similar case, a 28-year-old Korean man shared his ordeal with Hankook Ilbo at the immigration office of the Sihanoukville provincial police headquarters in Cambodia, as reported by The Korea Times. It all began when he responded to a fake job offer for a high-paying position.

He explained that he had been working at a Korean company when he saw a post on Telegram recruiting people "familiar with computer programs." Upon arrival in Cambodia, he was kidnapped and taken to a voice phishing operation in Sihanoukville. His captors initially threatened him with violence. When he refused to cooperate, they brutally beat him with metal pipes, subjecting him to severe physical abuse.

He was then transferred to a notorious compound near Poipet, near the Cambodia-Thailand border, where he and other victims were held in horrific conditions. The gang controlled their movements and forced them to participate in illegal activities. He was tortured daily, including through electric shocks, and witnessed other captives being subjected to similar brutality.

Despite the constant threat of death and inhumane conditions, he never gave up on finding a way to escape. He secretly managed to send a message for help, which led to his eventual rescue. After 160 days in captivity, Cambodian police freed him, but the trauma he endured left lasting scars, both physically and mentally.

"They forced me to wipe the bloodstains off the walls and floor. The smell of blood stayed on my hands for a week," he told Hankook Ilbo. He also witnessed a man die from the ongoing torture. At times, he said, he even considered taking his own life, but the constant handcuffs made it impossible.

In another case reported by Chosun, a Korean man in his 20s, drowning in debt, was lured by an offer from a loan company to go to Cambodia and work for a casino to clear his debt and make money. In June 2024, he borrowed 2.2 million won at a staggering 5,000% annual interest rate. The loan company promised to clear his debt and give him an additional 3 million won if he worked for a week at a casino in Cambodia. They even provided a plane ticket.

Suspected online scammers are detained in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, July 14, 2025. Photo by AFP

He told his father he would return in a week and boarded a flight to Cambodia on July 17. Upon arrival, instead of being sent to a casino, he was taken to an online scam center, where Chinese gang members informed him that the loan company had sold him to them. They ordered him to extort money from South Koreans through phone scams.

Two days later, he managed to escape by jumping from the third floor of the complex. After returning to South Korea, he reported the incident to the police. Authorities are now investigating the loan company.

According to an AFP report, Seoul has said about 1,000 South Koreans are among a total of around 200,000 people working in scam operations in Cambodia. Some are forced under the threat of violence to execute "pig butchering" scams—cryptocurrency investment schemes that build trust with victims over time before stealing their funds.

The multibillion-dollar illicit industry has ballooned in Cambodia in recent years, with thousands of people perpetrating online scams, some willingly, others forced by the organized criminal groups running the fraud networks, experts say.

On Oct. 15, Chosun reporters visited the Prince Complex, located about 50 minutes from Phnom Penh. The complex, with its blue roof and 10 four-story villas, is Cambodia's largest criminal center and serves as the headquarters for a Chinese gang running global phone scams. Over 4,000 people, primarily from South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia, have been held captive and forced into online scams at this facility.

The entrance of the complex bore the Chinese character "福" (Fu) meaning fortune and good luck, but few people were seen around after the tragic death of a South Korean student from torture at the complex in August, according to South Korean media. As reporters took photos, Cambodian police officers nearby shouted at them to stop. Rumors circulated that the police were complicit in shielding the criminals.

"They'll reappear like moles, continuing their crimes soon," a Cambodian citizen said when encountering reporters outside the complex, indicating that police raids and arrests would lead nowhere.