I travelled to ground zero of the cyber scams targeting India. Here is what I found

On a sunny day in December, I travelled to Sihanoukville, a coastal city in Cambodia which has become ground zero of the world’s most organised and outrageous cybercrime cartels. Operating from the city, Chinese syndicates have siphoned off billions of dollars from unsuspecting victims across the world, including India. They lure young people to Cambodia with false job offers and then confine them to “scam compounds” and force them to call and defraud their fellow nationals.

With two local journalists, I drove around one of the most notorious scam compounds in the city, Jinbei 4. The backstreet was under surveillance – CCTV cameras loomed over our heads and a wary guard looked piqued by our presence. As we passed the compound and turned left, we found the exit to the main road was blocked by a truck. The warm Sihanoukville afternoon suddenly became hot and paranoia took over. I took a deep breath and looked behind, half expecting a Chinese gang to be closing in on us.

Before I flew to Cambodia, I had met several Indians who had shared harrowing accounts of the violence they faced in these prison-like spaces before they managed to flee.

In May 2024, the Indian embassy in Cambodia evacuated 60 Indians from Jinbei 4. The compound makes news…

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