Police and military officers worked as private security guards inside Cambodian scam compounds where thousands of trafficked workers were forced to commit online fraud, according to an Amnesty International report. The investigation, titled 'Official Business: Security companies and authorities at scamming compounds in Cambodia', says survivors' long-standing accounts of seeing officials inside the compounds can now be verified.

What the investigation found

Amnesty's findings rest on 151 survivor interviews, visits to 82 scam compounds and social media videos from dozens of guard accounts showing guards in company uniform. The organisation says it identified more than 20 members of the military and police with an active presence at the compounds, some working openly as guards.

The investigation also said it could link illicit operations with five well-connected private security companies:

• •151 survivors interviewed, 82 compounds visited
• •More than 20 military and police members identified with an active presence
• •Five well-connected private security companies linked to illicit operations

Survivor accounts and the Leap Somnang case

Survivors described guards administering electric shocks and beatings, detaining people in 'dark rooms' and standing guard while compound managers raped women.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general, said the guards controlled compound exits, hunted escapees and enforced compliance through fear and violence.

The security company Leap Somnang had the largest footprint, linked to at least 15 compounds across eight provinces; twelve survivors identified its guards, uniforms or logo. Amnesty alleges Leap Somnang is believed to be controlled by Ban Sophat, who publicly served as its chair while also being a colonel in the armed forces. The organisation published photos it claimed showed him alongside Leap Somnang guards at two scamming compounds.

In a letter quoted by Amnesty, Ban Sophat denied holding any ownership, director or management role, saying he had 'served as an adviser to the company owner'. He was also quoted saying that appearing in a photograph at a location does not mean knowledge of or involvement in activities conducted there. Amnesty said it did not receive a response from Leap Somnang.

A regional trafficking economy

According to the UN, hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked into south-east Asia from across the world, often lured by promises of office jobs and then forced to run online scams. Many of the compounds specialise in pig butchering, a type of romance fraud where criminals build a fake relationship with a victim before stealing their money.

The scale of the losses is vast:

• •Annual losses from the scam industry are estimated at about $100bn, outstripping the GDP of several countries in the region
• •Part of the industry is moving to South Asia

In July 2025, Cambodia launched its largest-ever crackdown on scam operations, promising to wipe out the criminal networks. Authorities claim to have shut down hundreds of scam centres, and Amnesty said the industry there was now 'dormant'.

The government's response and what comes next

Cambodia's ministry of interior responded that it had disciplined 77 police officers, prosecuted six private security guards for using stun batons illegally and detained 17 military, police and civil officials for colluding with criminals. The ministry letter said authorities had sent 3,477 suspects to court under a policy of 'no tolerance, no exemption, and no retreat', which it said was intended to ensure Cambodia did not become a 'haven or operating base for transnational criminal networks'.

Callamard said the findings show the infrastructure of impunity has not been dismantled, and that Cambodia will not have ended the industry until it holds to account those who staffed, managed, financed and protected it. The Guardian contacted Cambodia's interior ministry, Ban Sophat and Leap Somnang for comment.