Crime23 August, 20262 min read
Criminal Network In Cambodia Forces Trafficked Brazilians To Scam As Federal Police
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A Cambodian criminal network trafficked Brazilians to run scams posing as Federal Police. Victims were forced to follow a scam script and bear legal consequences.
5 outlets told this the same way.
Cambodia scam network
A criminal network in Cambodia forced trafficked Brazilians to carry out scams by posing as the Federal Police, according to a report describing the script followed by Pedro Alencar, 25, after he became a victim of human trafficking in Cambodia.
Alencar said the telemarketing agent role he was forced to play involved pretending to be part of the Federal Police and involving victims with a story that only ended when a bank transfer was completed.
The report says that if Alencar refused, he could be beaten, electroshocked, and starved, and it describes how the scheme simulated agencies including the Federal Police and public bodies such as the civil and military police, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Central Bank, and the Federal Court of Accounts.
Alencar described the Federal Police scam as a staged setup, saying: "They built a setup identical to a Federal Police office, with a slogan, flags, desk, badge and even a policeman’s uniform, suit. As if it were a scene."
Threats and forced scripts
The report says the scam script used by criminals mirrored dramaturgy, with instructions on tone and expression and guidance on possible doubts from victims and the response in each situation. It describes intimidation tactics in which fake agents warned victims: "You don’t want your family, friends, and relatives to become scapegoats for Fernandinho Beira-Mar, you understand?"
According to Alencar, criminals provided technologies such as voice emulators and facial filters to avoid recognition, and the report says operators were instructed to research the real name of the deputy in charge of the cited precinct to avoid arousing suspicion. The report also says the staging could last for days, with fake police declaring that the victim was involved in crimes of ideological falsehood, fraud, and leaking personal data.
Sihanoukville crackdown
The report places the scam activity in Sihanoukville on Cambodia’s southern coast, describing the municipality as one of the birthplaces of the scam industry after a 2019 online betting ban led to the closure of several casinos. It says the emptying of complexes occurred after actions by Cambodian authorities who targeted Sihanoukville and other scam hubs as countries like China and the United States began to pressure due to human trafficking and fraud.
The report describes residents and merchants saying the current scene contrasts with the past when residential condominiums, hotels, and casinos were used as centers, and it notes that security cameras are turned off and barbed wire fences remain. Alencar said he arrived in the city a little over a year after arriving in Southeast Asia, and he described his earlier transfers in Laos and the Philippines before the Federal Police scam began in Cambodia.