Cambodia: Chinese Embassy warns citizens about online gambling syndicates

The Chinese Embassy has released a statement after Chinese citizens were detained and held for ransom by online gambling syndicates.

Cambodia.- The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia has posted a statement on its website reminding Chinese citizens not to associate with online gambling syndicates. The statement comes after a number of online gambling syndicates were found to have posted fake job advertisements to lure Chinese nationals who were then kidnapped for ransom.

The Cambodian police, in conjunction with the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia, carried out a raid to rescue the victims.

The embassy also reminded Chinese citizens that they should enter Cambodia through formal channels and asked them to avoid falling for scams that promised absurd profits.

Last September, China and Cambodia renewed their existing cooperation agreement on cross border gambling. When the first agreement was signed, in March 2019, Cambodia banned online gambling.

Cambodia has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand to tackle online gambling hub operators and call-centre scammers. Cooperation between government agencies led to the shutdown of 742 gambling sites in the first three months of the year.