PHNOM PENH – About 80 Taiwanese and Chinese nationals have been arrested in Cambodia for allegedly extorting money from victims overseas over the telephone, police said on Monday.
The suspects, mostly Taiwanese nationals who were arrested on Saturday, will be deported to their home countries to face justice, interior ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told AFP.
“They committed crimes by using (telephones over the) Internet to extort money from victims abroad,” he said, adding that China had cooperated in the bust.
More than 500 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals have been arrested and deported by Cambodia for alleged Internet extortion since 2010, according to police, who say the suspects often threaten their victims.
Taiwanese fraud rings have recently relocated to Southeast Asia after the island’s police joined forces with Chinese authorities to crack down on their operations.