Intelligence service warns of scams in Southeast Asia after Korean rescued from Cambodian ring
Published: 20 Jan. 2026, 17:23
![Korean law enforcement including officials from the National Intelligence Service are seen during a crackdown on a criminal ring that conducted scams on Koreans in Thailand on Jan. 8, in this photo provided by the National Police Agency and unrelated to the story. [NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/20/409de06f-ff82-47f1-8708-17d49cd05cc7.jpg)
Korean law enforcement including officials from the National Intelligence Service are seen during a crackdown on a criminal ring that conducted scams on Koreans in Thailand on Jan. 8, in this photo provided by the National Police Agency and unrelated to the story. [NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY]
A Korean man was held captive and forced to participate in scam operations run by a criminal syndicate in Cambodia, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Tuesday, warning of similar scams targeting Koreans in Southeast Asia.
The NIS received a report on Dec. 17 of last year from a mother who said her son had been imprisoned by a criminal group, according to the intelligence service on Tuesday.
The son had traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, after receiving an offer from someone he met on Telegram: Stay in a hotel for two weeks and receive $2,000 in cash.
Upon arrival, however, he was immediately stripped of his passport and phone by members of a scam ring. He was then sold from one criminal group to another, moving between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Eventually handed over in Ho Chi Minh City and moved through the Cambodian cities of Poipet and Phnom Penh, the man was transported back into Vietnam’s Moc Bai and finally ended up confined in a scam compound in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.
There, he was told by gang members that he would be arrested by local police for illegally crossing the border — a threat that kept him in captivity.
The compound, located in a remote jungle near the Vietnam border with no residential or commercial areas nearby, was impossible to escape without outside help.
![Korean law enforcement including officials from the National Intelligence Service are seen during a crackdown on a criminal ring that conducted scams on Koreans in Thailand on Jan. 8, in this photo provided by the National Police Agency and unrelated to the story. [NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/20/041f9c9f-06d2-4dc1-9d86-e35463d8fdba.jpg)
Korean law enforcement including officials from the National Intelligence Service are seen during a crackdown on a criminal ring that conducted scams on Koreans in Thailand on Jan. 8, in this photo provided by the National Police Agency and unrelated to the story. [NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY]
Gang members told him he would be allowed to go home after six months of work, coercing him into participating in the scam.
“I witnessed another Korean in the compound being beaten with a stun gun and a club for underperforming,” the man said upon release. “The psychological pressure was intense.”
Authorities were able to locate and rescue the man based on the mother’s report. In the process, 26 Korean nationals involved with the operation were also arrested.
The government formed a joint task force with the Cambodian police in November of last year and has since carried out concentrated crackdowns on local scam compounds. So far, three Korean victims have been rescued and 157 participants apprehended.
“There have been numerous reports of Southeast Asia job scams, illegal confinement, assaults and torture,” the NIS said, “but some young people are still being lured abroad by promises of high pay.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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