An analysis of job advertisements assessed to have been posted by Cambodian scam syndicates has provided insights into the multi-billion-dollar industry and evidence it has survived amid an enforcement action by the country's government.
Cambodian digital rights advocate Moses Ngeth collected 4,991 ads posted in 37 public Cambodian job listing groups on the messaging platform Telegram between April 2023 and July this year.
While the jobs were posted anonymously, Mr Ngeth said details including wording and the places provided showed their intent.
While criminals often use job advertisements as part of their scams, Mr Ngeth said the ones he analysed were for real jobs in the scam operations.
The ads — posted in Khmer, Chinese and English — for roles such as "add contact", "model real face", "model AI", "killer", "money mule" and "AI model developer" were coded, he said.
Mr Ngeth said place data provided in some of the listings lined up with scam compounds identified by organisations such as Amnesty International.
Payment offered ranged from $US600 ($852) a month for victim finders, the most commonly advertised job, up to $US7,000 a month for a female model with a "Western face". A job offer for a "Japanese Female Call Operator" offered up to $US12,000 a month.
Hay Makara, an official from Cambodia's anti-scam commission, said authorities had so far closed 663 scam sites, including 86 large compounds, and frozen $US300 million in scam-related accounts.
Mr Ngeth said that between July 2025 and April, about 5 per cent of ads were for jobs outside Cambodia.