INTERPOL Praises Cambodia's Anti-Scam Progress, Invites Participation in New Global Task Force

The INTERPOL has lauded Cambodia’s recent progress in combating online scams and invited the nation to join a new global task force aimed at strengthening international investigations against fraud networks. Nicholas Court, director of INTERPOL’s Task Force Coordination Directorate, said Cambodia had shown “significant effort and progress” in recent months, citing the enactment of a new law on online scams and its participation in international initiatives. Speaking at the opening of the International Conference on Combating Online Scams in Phnom Penh, Nicholas thanked the Cambodian National Police and INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau for hosting the event and bringing partners together. He noted Cambodia’s endorsement of the Call to Action adopted at the joint INTERPOL‑UNODC Global Fraud Summit in Vienna earlier this year. He warned that fraud remains a growing global threat, affecting businesses, governments and individuals. “This is not an abstract crime simply of large numbers. It is a human crime with real human costs,” he said. To strengthen the response, INTERPOL has launched Task Force Shadow Storm, its first dedicated fraud task force, bringing investigators from member countries together in Singapore to work with actionable intelligence. Cambodia is among those invited to participate. Nicholas highlighted recent operations, including Operation Haechi, which helped recover $340 million and freeze 68,000 bank accounts, and Operation First Light, which led to 5,800 arrests and another $300 million recovered. Despite these results, he said fraud continues to expand, requiring closer cooperation to match the pace of criminal networks. Nicholas welcomed the Phnom Penh Declaration expected from the conference, saying it underscores the importance of turning political commitments into operational action. “The threat from fraud is high and growing,” he said. “But the willingness of INTERPOL and its member countries is matching this pace.” The two‑day conference, held under the theme “Acting Together towards Breaking the Chain and Eradication of Online Scams,” has brought governments, law‑enforcement agencies and international organisations together to strengthen cooperation against transnational fraud.