UNODC Praises Cambodia for Intensified Online Scam Crackdown, Citing Regional Model Status

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has highly commended Cambodia for intensifying its operations to crack down on online scams, designating the country as a regional model. Speaking at the opening of the International Conference on Combating Online Scams held in Phnom Penh on September 23, 2026, Ms. Delphine Schantz, UNODC Regional Representative, expressed support for the Cambodian government's initiatives and thanked Prime Minister Hun Manet for leading the organization of the conference. Ms. Schantz highlighted that the conference demonstrates Cambodia's commitment to international cooperation and its engagement in finding more effective strategies to respond to online scams and technology-enabled crimes. She specifically noted the situation in Cambodia, stating that in recent months, the country has increased its law enforcement operations to shut down online scam operations. She pointed out that the establishment of Cambodia's Ad Hoc Commission for Combating Online Scams sends a significant signal, and the organization of this international conference is another step that shows Cambodia's openness to cooperating internationally to combat online scam offenses. Ms. Delphine Schantz emphasized that despite progress in response, much work remains to be done at both national and international levels, as online scams and fraud are crimes that affect people everywhere and in all social strata. Across the region, responses to this issue are being strengthened, with the establishment of anti-scam centers, new working groups, and the continuous crackdown on large-scale criminal locations. In this regard, she stressed that the fight against online scams is not a problem any single country can solve alone. Therefore, cooperation between countries and relevant institutions at regional and global levels is extremely important. Ms. Delphine Schantz thanked the Cambodian government for hosting the conference and urged participating countries and partners to use this opportunity to identify concrete and actionable steps to strengthen responses to online scams at national, regional, and global levels.