Thai military authorities have exposed a sprawling scam complex on the Cambodian border equipped with professional-grade “film sets” designed to mimic police stations and banks from across the Asia-Pacific region, officials said Monday.
Following a de-escalation of border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia,Bangkok authorities led foreign media crews on a tour of the seized facility in O’Smach on Feb. 2. Inside, officials revealed extensive evidence of a transnational fraud operation that utilized elaborate stagecraft to deceive victims.
Among the most significant discoveries were rooms furnished to replicate the interiors of law enforcement offices from at least seven countries, including Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Australia.
— The Straits Times (@straits_times)February 3, 2026
Fake Singapore neighbourhood police centre found in Cambodian scam compoundhttps://t.co/o2JXVqA6yI
One room featured a large blue backdrop emblazoned with “Police Woodlands East NPC” and a replica of the Singapore Police Force crest, creating a facade of a genuine Singaporean neighborhood police center. Another room contained a setup mimicking a counter at a branch of OCBC Bank, a multinational banking corporation based in Singapore.
Thai officials stated that fraud syndicates used these sets to conduct video calls with victims. Scammers, often dressed in counterfeit uniforms found at the site, would impersonate government officials or bank staff to threaten victims with arrest or legal action unless funds were transferred to specific accounts.
Lt. Gen. Teeranan Nandhakwang, director of the Thai army’s intelligence unit, described the operation as highly sophisticated.
“These fraud syndicates are extremely well-organized, with comprehensive infrastructure, workflows, and various psychological warfare tactics and technologies,” Teeranan told reporters.
Journalists touring the abandoned buildings found rooms littered with fraud scripts, victim target lists, and contact information.
The Singapore Police Force confirmed Tuesday that Thai authorities had discovered a facade resembling a Singapore neighborhood police center. In a statement, the police urged the public to remain vigilant against impersonation scams, noting that government officials never request money transfers or banking credentials over the phone.
The compound in O’Smach, a border town long identified by the U.S. government as a hub for scam operations, was seized by Thai forces during armed clashes with Cambodian troops in December 2025.
Before its seizure, the complex reportedly housed thousands of people. Reuters reported that many were victims of human trafficking held against their willand forced to defraud strangers under the threat of physical abuse.
Ivan Franceschini, a scholar at the University of Melbourne and expert on Southeast Asian cybercrime, noted that the fake sets are a tool to overcome victim skepticism during the "trust-building" phase of a scam. （Related： MediaTek Warns of Smartphone Slowdown; Pegatron’s T.H. Tung Says AI Can Reignite the Market ｜ Latest ）
