Thai military finds fake police setups at Cambodian scam complex
The O'Smach scam complex included rooms set up to imitate police offices from at least seven countries, including Singapore, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
A Thai journalist wears a fake Singapore police uniform at a mock-up set resembling a police station inside a scam compound in O'Smach, Cambodia, on Feb 2, 2026. (Photo: AP/Sakchai Lalit)
Thailand's military said on Monday (Feb 2) that it had recovered evidence of transnational fraud from a Cambodian scam compound.
The O'Smach complex, which is located along the disputed Cambodia-Thailand border, was seized by Thai forces during clashes last year between the two countries.
Thai military officials said the complex had housed thousands of people, many of them victims of human trafficking, who were forced to scam strangers or face punishment.
O'Smach was previously named by the United States as a base for scam operations.
In one of the buildings, documents containing apparent target lists, contact details and scripts for scam dialogues could be seen strewn everywhere.
There were also rooms set up to imitate police offices from at least seven countries, including Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia.
In response to CNA's queries, the Singapore police confirmed on Tuesday that the Thai authorities had discovered a facade resembling a Singapore neighbourhood police centre at an abandoned scam centre along the Thai-Cambodian border.
"The police would like to alert members of the public to be vigilant against government officials impersonation scam involving the impersonation of officers from the Singapore Police Force," they said.
During phone calls, Singapore government officials will never ask members of the public to transfer money, disclose their banking log-in details, install mobile apps from unofficial app stalls or transfer their call to the police, they added.
"WELL ORGANISED"
Lieutenant General Teeranan Nandhakwang, director of the Thai army’s intelligence unit, said of the scammers: “They are well organised. They have good infrastructure and systems, and also the workflow and many, many tactics and techniques to do the scams.”
One room in the complex had a replica of what appears to be a Vietnamese bank branch, complete with service counters, banners and a waiting area.
The setups served as essential components of a scam where people are targeted by scam operators pretending to be officials or other figures of authority. Scripted approaches were meant to threaten arrest or other legal action unless instructions were followed.
According to experts, such scam operations in Cambodia and elsewhere have cheated people around the world out of billions of dollars and tricked people from many countries into working in them under slave-like conditions.
The Thai military said the compound was secured during December clashes between the two countries because Cambodian forces had used it as a military base.
A ceasefire reached in December stipulated that the warring sides would de-escalate tensions and hold their forces at the positions they occupied before the agreement.
That included the compound on Cambodian soil, which is now occupied by Thai troops.
