Hun Manet Outlines Five Priorities for Global Fight Against Online Scams
Hun Manet Outlines Five Priorities for Global Fight Against Online Scams
PHNOM PENH, Sept. 23, 2026 — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has called for stronger international cooperation in the fight against technology-enabled online scams, proposing five priority areas ranging from real-time intelligence sharing and financial investigations to victim protection.
Speaking at the opening of the International Conference on Combating Online Scams (ICCOS-2026) in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, Hun Manet said Cambodia was fully committed to taking sustained action against online scam crimes and building partnerships based on mutual respect, sovereign equality and shared accountability.
The two-day conference, held under the theme “Acting Together Towards Breaking the Chain and Eradication of Online Scams,” has brought together representatives from more than 20 countries, as well as INTERPOL, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and other international organisations.
Hun Manet proposed five areas for stronger international cooperation:
1. Real-time intelligence sharing
Partner countries should strengthen rapid-response communication channels between national and international law-enforcement agencies, allowing intelligence to be shared in real time. He said this would help authorities track criminal cells and disrupt decentralised criminal networks operating across borders.
2. Advanced financial investigations
Financial intelligence and anti-money-laundering authorities should cooperate more closely and use platforms capable of rapidly tracing illicit financial flows, identifying ultimate beneficial owners, freezing virtual assets and disrupting informal banking networks, he said.
3. Greater legal and operational coordination
Hun Manet called for greater alignment of mutual legal-assistance frameworks, streamlined extradition procedures and improved sharing of digital forensic evidence. Such cooperation, he said, would prevent criminal groups from exploiting gaps between different legal jurisdictions.
4. Public-private partnerships
Governments should develop operational partnerships with commercial banks, telecommunications operators, technology platforms and cryptocurrency exchanges to detect scams at an early stage, disrupt suspicious digital infrastructure and freeze accounts connected to illegal activities.
5. Stronger victim protection
Governments and international organisations should strengthen systems for identifying victims and coordinate diplomatic procedures to ensure their protection and safe return to their countries of origin.
Hun Manet said collective commitments to confronting the increasingly complex threat of online scams must be matched by concrete and coordinated action.
“Cambodia will never be a safe haven for online scams,” Hun Manet said at the conference, reaffirming the government’s position as Cambodia hosts the international gathering.
He also called on international partners participating in the conference to adopt the Phnom Penh Declaration on Combating Online Scams on September 24 as a demonstration of their shared commitment to disrupting criminal networks and eradicating online scams.
The declaration is expected to serve as one of the key outcomes of the two-day conference, which aims to strengthen international cooperation and promote the exchange of experience and best practices in tackling transnational online fraud.
