{"id":207458,"date":"2022-03-31T05:59:07","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T12:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=207458"},"modified":"2022-03-31T12:39:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T19:39:01","slug":"up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cambodia has asserted that it is working diligently to eliminate the seedy underbelly that permeates the country. It can demonstrate that by freeing the 100 Malaysians allegedly held hostage by a group forcing them to participate in illegal gambling operations and phone scams.<\/p>\n

\"Illegal
An illegal phone scam operation in Cambodia after police intervened. Scenes like this, using slave labor, are common in the country. (Image: Thailand News<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cambodia is reportedly in the process of ridding itself of the criminal organizations that have infested the country. It occasionally makes progress<\/a>\u00a0but still has a long way to go. Cities like Sihanoukville have corroded the country’s landscape, becoming the epicenter of alleged kidnappings, torture, and illegal gambling.<\/p>\n

The country could probably do a lot more, a lot quicker. A report by the Khmer Times<\/em> indicates that it has identified another underground operation that follows the same modus operandi. The media outlet has known about it for almost a month.<\/p>\n

\n

There are as many as 100 Malaysian youths who are hostages of a criminal syndicate in Cambodia, the Khmer Times<\/em> reports. The media outlet acknowledges that it “has been investigating this story since early March.” This begs the question, why hasn’t something been done already?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Reportedly, one victim was able to get word to the outside world of what was going on. He explained that the syndicate is forcing him and others to participate in illegal online gambling sites and phone scams. It’s a common theme in Cambodia that has resulted in international pressure<\/a> on Cambodia.<\/p>\n

Hostages Under Survelliance<\/h2>\n

The hostages don’t have access to cell phones. They use landlines for their activity, with the organization behind the activity closely monitoring what is said. However, the unidentified victim who contacted the media outlet explained that he is able to surreptitiously send emails.<\/p>\n

I will collect them as soon as possible and send them to you as soon as possible. After all, there are so many people and eyes and ears. If I get caught more than once, I will be buried in Cambodia<\/strong>,” one kidnapped Malaysian told the Khmer Times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The location that serves as a base of operations and the undesired home for the hostages is apparently sophisticated. The individual told the media outlet that it also has casinos, a massage parlor, bars, restaurants, and more in addition to the fraudulent digital activity.<\/p>\n

The scams run by the group target different countries. One department concentrates on China and another on Chinese Taipei. A third hits Europe and a fourth focuses on the US.<\/p>\n

Government Response Too Slow<\/h2>\n

The Cambodian government may be more aware of what is going on and by whom than it has let on. The man in charge of Malaysia’s Public Services and Complaints Department, Michael Chong, has received calls from alleged victims since the beginning of the year. They have begged him to “come to their rescue,” he admitted in a press conference on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The parents of two of the hostages joined Chong in the press conference. One of those victims is 18; the other is 24.<\/p>\n

\n

They thought they were heading for legitimate jobs when they responded to ads for work. Neither knew what he was about to get into. Along with the others, they have been kept in buildings locked from the outside and guarded by men with guns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Malaysian officials say that they are working to resolve the issue. However, the father of one of the victims contacted Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah two weeks ago, describing what he knew. The Khmer Times<\/em> states that he never received a response.<\/p>\n

Malaysia reportedly has evidence of wrongdoing dating back to the beginning of the year. Cambodia has to have even more following several recent high-profile cases<\/a>\u00a0and Khmer Times’<\/em> self-proclaimed investigation. Finding a location that can house over 100 people and offer gambling, bars, and restaurants behind armed guards shouldn’t be that difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cambodia has asserted that it is working diligently to eliminate the seedy underbelly that permeates the country. It can demonstrate that by freeing the 100 Malaysians allegedly held hostage by a group forcing them to participate in illegal gambling operations and phone scams. Cambodia is reportedly in the process of ridding itself of the criminal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":207457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIllegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cambodia has asserted that it is working diligently to eliminate the seedy underbelly that permeates the country. It can demonstrate that by freeing the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cambodia has asserted that it is working diligently to eliminate the seedy underbelly that permeates the country. It can demonstrate that by freeing the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-31T12:59:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-31T19:39:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Online-scams.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"436\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erik Gibbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik Gibbs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/\",\"name\":\"Illegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Online-scams.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-31T12:59:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-31T19:39:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca\"},\"description\":\"Cambodia has asserted that it is working diligently to eliminate the seedy underbelly that permeates the country. It can demonstrate that by freeing the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Online-scams.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Online-scams.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":436,\"caption\":\"An illegal phone scam operation in Cambodia after police intervened. Scenes like this, using slave labor, are common in the country. (Image: Thailand News)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Illegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca\",\"name\":\"Erik Gibbs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Erik Gibbs\"},\"description\":\"Erik Gibbs covers global gaming news for Casino.org. His scope includes Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Erik has covered gaming markets in Europe and Asia for the past six years. Erik joined Casino.org in November 2021. Erik has written for numerous gambling- and a handful of industry publications has quoted casino-related media outlets over the years and. He is always excited to bring a new perspective on what's happening in the gaming space. Erik enjoys following the global gaming industry, paying particular attention to innovation and regulation. Originally from the US, Erik has spent extensive time living in various countries across the globe. He enjoys anything that has to do with the outdoors and exploration, although he readily admits that he would have no trouble spending all day fishing on a boat. He currently resides in Spain. Contact Erik at erik.gibbs@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/erik-gibbs\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Illegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage - Casino.org","description":"Cambodia has asserted that it is working diligently to eliminate the seedy underbelly that permeates the country. It can demonstrate that by freeing the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Illegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage - Casino.org","og_description":"Cambodia has asserted that it is working diligently to eliminate the seedy underbelly that permeates the country. It can demonstrate that by freeing the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-03-31T12:59:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-31T19:39:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":436,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Online-scams.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Erik Gibbs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erik Gibbs","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/","name":"Illegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage - Casino.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Online-scams.jpg","datePublished":"2022-03-31T12:59:07+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-31T19:39:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca"},"description":"Cambodia has asserted that it is working diligently to eliminate the seedy underbelly that permeates the country. It can demonstrate that by freeing the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Online-scams.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Online-scams.jpg","width":800,"height":436,"caption":"An illegal phone scam operation in Cambodia after police intervened. Scenes like this, using slave labor, are common in the country. (Image: Thailand News)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/up-to-100-malaysians-being-held-hostage-in-illegal-gambling-center-in-cambodia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Illegal Gambling Center in Cambodia Sees Up to 100 Malaysians Held Hostage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca","name":"Erik Gibbs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png","caption":"Erik Gibbs"},"description":"Erik Gibbs covers global gaming news for Casino.org. His scope includes Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Erik has covered gaming markets in Europe and Asia for the past six years. Erik joined Casino.org in November 2021. Erik has written for numerous gambling- and a handful of industry publications has quoted casino-related media outlets over the years and. He is always excited to bring a new perspective on what's happening in the gaming space. Erik enjoys following the global gaming industry, paying particular attention to innovation and regulation. Originally from the US, Erik has spent extensive time living in various countries across the globe. He enjoys anything that has to do with the outdoors and exploration, although he readily admits that he would have no trouble spending all day fishing on a boat. He currently resides in Spain. Contact Erik at erik.gibbs@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/erik-gibbs\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}