Back to the trend of the day: Tokyo gang member accused of sending young women to scam centers abroad (in Japanese)
Poly Rating · from the trend of the day

Cambodia Scam Center Arrests 2026: 10 Japan Links

Police believe one Poipet base staffed by 29 Japanese took at least ¥1.4 billion, yet Japan's ¥236 billion in special-fraud losses for 2026 has no line for calls made from abroad.

  • No. 1: Japan special-fraud losses: ¥236.07 billion, Jan-Aug 2026
  • 9 places

01Final list

The leading AIs each built their own list of ten independently. Here is one result that is easy to check: every place has a reason, a source, and the list of AIs that included it.

Order: from most to least AI agreement.

A bright badge means this AI put the entry on its list. A dim badge means it did not.

  1. 1

    Japan special-fraud losses: ¥236.07 billion, Jan-Aug 2026

    Special-fraud losses reached ¥236.07 billion in the first eight months of 2026, already above all of 2025 (¥142.3 billion). No figure says how much was called from abroad.

    Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, StepFun, DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Nova, Wenxin.

    In their lists: Claude: 6 · ChatGPT: 1 · StepFun: 5 · DeepSeek: 8

    What each AI noted 4
    • Claudeplace 6

      A record, nearly double the year before (up 98%), about ¥390 million lost per day.

      Source ↗
    • ChatGPTplace 1

      Special-fraud losses reached ¥142.3 billion in 2025, nearly doubling year over year, but the NPA total does not identify which losses came from overseas compounds.

      Source ↗
    • StepFunplace 5

      29,687 recognised cases and 236.07 billion yen lost in eight months - roughly 1 billion yen a day - and the police cannot say how much of it was dialled from abroad.

      Source ↗
    • DeepSeekplace 8

      Japan's special-fraud losses nearly doubled to ¥142.3 billion in 2025, but this national total does not say how much came from overseas bases.

      Source ↗
    4 AIs put it here
    Source ↗
  2. 2

    Cambodia scam crackdown: 624 sites raided

    Cambodia raided 624 sites and counts 58,266 foreigners rescued and deported. It publishes no breakdown for Japanese nationals, so none of this can be tied to losses in Japan.

    Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, StepFun, DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Nova, Wenxin.

    In their lists: Claude: 8 · ChatGPT: 3 · StepFun: 9 · DeepSeek: 10

    What each AI noted 4
    • Claudeplace 8

      The detainees came from 23 nationalities, more than 3,400 of them Chinese, but the reports I found gave no Japanese count.

      Source ↗
    • ChatGPTplace 3

      Authorities said they raided 624 sites and rescued and deported 58,266 foreigners; both counts measure enforcement activity, not Japanese-linked losses or victim status.

      Source ↗
    • StepFunplace 9

      Cambodia investigated 793 suspected scam locations, raided 624 and detained roughly 30,000 people - the enforcement wave that produced every Japanese deportation on this list.

      Source ↗
    • DeepSeekplace 10

      The most-quoted crackdown number bundles victims and suspects: 22,045 of the 58,266 were confirmed as directly involved in online scams.

      Source ↗
    4 AIs put it here
    Source ↗
  3. 3

    2 women sent from Tokyo's Kabukicho to a Cambodia scam center

    Reported 20 October 2026: a Sumiyoshi-kai gang member allegedly sent two young women from the Toyoko hangout to Cambodia. The recruiting happened in Tokyo and the compound was abroad. The charge is still an allegation.

    Included it: ChatGPT, StepFun, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Nova, Wenxin.

    In their lists: ChatGPT: 4 · StepFun: 2 · DeepSeek: 7

    What each AI noted 3
    • ChatGPTplace 4

      The Asahi-reported case centers on two women allegedly sent from Kabukicho to Cambodia—the clearest direct Japan-to-compound connection in the prompt, but only an allegation at arrest stage.

    • StepFunplace 2

      A Sumiyoshi-kai member is accused of sending two young women from Toyoko, a Kabukicho youth hangout, to Cambodia - Japan's own organised crime now charged with feeding the compounds.

      Source ↗
    • DeepSeekplace 7

      Two young women from a Tokyo youth hangout were allegedly sent to a Cambodian scam base by a Sumiyoshi-kai member — the case reported today.

      Source ↗
    3 AIs put it here
    Source ↗
  4. More about the top three ↓
  5. 4

    19 Japanese deported from Sihanoukville, Cambodia

    19 Japanese suspects were flown home from Sihanoukville to face Tokyo warrants. Al Jazeera dates this to April 2023, while other reports say April 2025 or April 2026, so these may be repeat cases.

    Included it: Claude, StepFun, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, Wenxin.

    In their lists: Claude: 3 · StepFun: 3 · DeepSeek: 4

    What each AI noted 3
    • Claudeplace 3

      Tokyo police held warrants for all 19 before they were flown home after a January Sihanoukville raid.

      Source ↗
    • StepFunplace 3

      Twenty-nine Japanese nationals arrested on suspicion of trying to defraud people in Japan from a base in northwestern Cambodia - the clearest case of Cambodian geography, Japanese victims.

      Source ↗
    • DeepSeekplace 4

      Nineteen Japanese men, aged 25–55, were sent home from Sihanoukville and arrested by Tokyo police over scams targeting Japanese residents.

      Source ↗
    3 AIs put it here
    Source ↗
  6. 5

    13 Japanese deported after Cambodia's Bavet raid

    A November 2025 raid in Bavet detained 13 Japanese among more than 50 foreigners. All 13 were sent home and arrested in January 2026 in a fake-police fraud case.

    Included it: Claude, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, StepFun, Wenxin.

    In their lists: Claude: 4 · DeepSeek: 3

    What each AI noted 2
    • Claudeplace 4

      A joint squad arrested 13 people moved from Cambodia in a fake-police fraud case, and a 53-year-old man tied to that case was arrested in October 2026 (per Japanese-language reports).

      Source ↗
    • DeepSeekplace 3

      A November 2025 raid in Bavet detained 13 Japanese; they were deported and arrested in Japan in January 2026.

      Source ↗
    2 AIs put it here
    Source ↗
  7. 6

    25 Japanese scam suspects deported from Cambodia

    Cambodia deported 25 Japanese suspects, and police arrested them aboard a Japanese plane, citing at least $1.6 million taken from mostly elderly victims. Sources disagree on the date.

    Included it: Claude, StepFun. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, DeepSeek, Wenxin.

    In their lists: Claude: 2 · StepFun: 4

    What each AI noted 2
    • Claudeplace 2

      Arrested in the air: because the plane was Japanese, police made the arrests once it took off, citing at least US$1.6 million taken from mostly elderly victims.

      Source ↗
    • StepFunplace 4

      Twenty-five Japanese suspects deported from Cambodia to Japan, on top of 19 in April 2025 - the enforcement chain that turns Cambodian raids into Japanese arrests.

      Source ↗
    2 AIs put it here
    Source ↗
  8. 7

    2 Japanese freed from a Myanmar scam compound

    An example from beyond Cambodia: on 5 October 2026, Thai police took custody of two Japanese men from a compound in Payathonzu. A social-media job ad had led them to a broker.

    Included it: StepFun. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, DeepSeek, Wenxin.

    In their lists: StepFun: 1

    What each AI noted 1
    • StepFunplace 1

      Two Japanese men lured by a social-media job ad, handed to a broker and taken into protective custody from a Chinese-led compound in Payathonzu, Karen State - the tightest Japan-to-compound link on record this month.

      Source ↗
    1 AIs put it here
    Source ↗
  9. 8

    13 Japanese arrested in Indonesia phone-scam case

    AP reported 13 Japanese men arrested in West Java over a cross-border phone scam aimed at Japan. A separate case in Surabaya led to 44 arrests.

    Included it: ChatGPT. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Nova, StepFun, DeepSeek, Wenxin.

    In their lists: ChatGPT: 6

    What each AI noted 1
    • ChatGPTplace 6

      AP described Japanese-targeting cross-border scam arrests in Indonesia, including 13 Japanese men in West Java in March; the article also reports a separate Surabaya arrest of 44 suspects.

      Source ↗
    1 AIs put it here
    Source ↗
  10. 9

    Fake-police scams in Japan: 11,014 cases in 2025

    Fake-police fraud, the scheme run from the Bavet base, more than doubled to 11,014 cases and ¥100.5 billion in 2025. Police tables do not separate out calls made from abroad.

    Included it: Claude. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, StepFun, DeepSeek, Wenxin.

    In their lists: Claude: 5

    What each AI noted 1
    • Claudeplace 5

      The scam type most tied to overseas bases more than doubled to 11,014 cases and about ¥100.5 billion.

      Source ↗
    1 AIs put it here
    Source ↗

02More about the top three

The ranking is above. Here is more about the three places at the top: what they are, why they are here, and what is worth knowing.

The three are not the same kind of measure: yen lost in Japan, sites raided in Cambodia, and one reported case of two women. None of them shows how much was called from abroad.

1Japan special-fraud losses: ¥236.07 billion, Jan-Aug 2026

No. 1 — Japan special-fraud losses: ¥236.07 billion, Jan-Aug 2026. On the lists of 4 of 7 AIs; median place there: 5.5. The AIs put it first because it is the biggest, record-setting loss figure, though no number says how much was called from abroad.

Did you know

  • Japan's 2025 special-fraud losses were ¥142.3 billion, the highest total recorded to date. Of 2,338 fraudsters arrested, about 60% (1,379) were 'ukeko', the people who collected cash from victims. Only 69 were main perpetrators.

    Source ↗
What it is
Japan's police total of money lost to special fraud, January to August 2026.
Its edge
It is the only one that measures the harm in money, and it already beats all of 2025.
Who should know
Useful for anyone who wants to see how big the damage is, and why the origin of the calls is missing.
  • Japan fraud losses, 2026¥236.07 billion, Jan-Aug 2026
Why it is here

  • Japan recorded 29,687 special-fraud cases by August 2026, up 14.4% from the same period a year earlier. The count shows the scale of harm recorded in Japan; it does not show where calls came from. — (voice only)

    Source ↗

  • Losses reached 2,360.7億円 by August 2026, up 33.2% year on year—faster growth than the case count. The NPA figures record losses in Japan, not overseas call locations. — (voice only)

    Source ↗
Did you know

  • In fake-police scams, people in their thirties filed the most cases (2,239). But people in their seventies lost the most money: ¥27.4 billion. Young people are targeted often, and older people lose the most.

    Source ↗
History

  • In 2025, special-fraud losses in Japan reached their worst level on record, a turning point that showed how quickly the harm was growing. The National Police Agency’s figures do not say where the calls came from. — (voice only)

    Source ↗
Keep in mind

  • The rules changed in 2026. One report says special fraud used to count only cases where the scammer posed as an official. That makes comparing years less reliable.

    Source ↗

  • The police count only reported cases, so the real total is probably higher. One report puts social media and romance fraud losses at ¥183.4 billion for 2025, counted apart from the ¥142.3 billion.

    Source ↗
Compare the top three ↓

2Cambodia scam crackdown: 624 sites raided

No. 2 — Cambodia scam crackdown: 624 sites raided. On the lists of 4 of 7 AIs; median place there: 8.5. The AIs ranked it second because the raid and deportation counts show the scale of Cambodia's response, yet nothing links them to Japan.

Did you know

  • Japanese suspects have been sent home before. On 8 November 2023, Cambodia deported 25 Japanese men arrested in September after a raid on DBLY Tower in Phnom Penh, on suspicion of running a phone scam.

    Source ↗
What it is
Cambodia's count of scam sites raided and foreigners rescued and deported.
Its edge
It shows the enforcement side abroad, which Japan's loss figures leave out entirely.
Who should know
Useful for anyone wondering how much action is happening in Cambodia, and why Japan can't be traced in it.
  • Japan fraud losses, 2026624 sites raided
Did you know

  • Cambodia says it deported over 48,000 foreigners accused of online scams since August 2023. A Ministry of Information estimate says over 210,000 suspected foreign scammers left voluntarily during the crackdown. Far more left on their own than were formally removed.

    Source ↗
Keep in mind

  • The 58,266 people deported include all foreigners rescued, not only scam workers. The Cambodian government's release says 22,045 of them were directly involved in online scams.

    Source ↗

  • Cambodian officials say big compounds are cleared. They also say the gangs moved into smaller hiding places: guesthouses, rental houses, vehicles and coffee shops. Experts say the government limits outside checks.

    Source ↗
Where to go further

  • Cambodia's government says it inspected 793 suspected locations and directly cracked down on 624 sites. It also reports 58,266 foreign nationals deported. Start with the 793 figure, then note there is no Japanese breakdown.

    Source ↗
Compare the top three ↓

32 women sent from Tokyo's Kabukicho to a Cambodia scam center

No. 3 — 2 women sent from Tokyo's Kabukicho to a Cambodia scam center. On the lists of 3 of 7 AIs; median place there: 4. The AIs placed it third because it is a real Tokyo-to-Cambodia link, but it is one reported case and still only an allegation.

Did you know

  • Another Cambodia case shows how these scams reach Japan. In January 2026, Japanese police arrested 13 people sent back from a Bavet base. They are suspected in about a dozen fraud cases worth roughly 50 million yen. One woman in her 60s lost about 11 million yen.

    Source ↗
What it is
A report that a gang member sent two young women from Tokyo to a Cambodian scam center.
Its edge
It is the only one that directly connects Japan to a scam base abroad.
Who should know
Useful for anyone who wants to see how recruiting in Japan can feed the compounds.
  • Japan fraud losses, 20262 women sent to Cambodia
Why it is here

  • A report published 20 October 2026 says a man allegedly sent 2 women from Tokyo's Toyoko area to Cambodia to make scam calls. It gives a direct Japan-to-operation link, though the charge remains an allegation. — (voice only)

    Source ↗

  • The report says one of the women was 19 at the time. That detail helps show the people involved in this reported Japan-to-Cambodia case; it is a single case, not a count of Japan's wider losses. — (voice only)

    Source ↗
Did you know

  • Toyoko is not only for locals. The group includes young people from as far as Osaka and Nagoya. Nearby bar and nightlife workers started calling them "Toyoko Kids", and Tokyo opened a youth consultation center in Kabukicho in May 2024.

    Source ↗
Compare the top three ↓

The top three side by side

Japan special-fraud losses: ¥236.07 billion, Jan-Aug 2026Cambodia scam crackdown: 624 sites raided2 women sent from Tokyo's Kabukicho to a Cambodia scam center
In the AIs' lists4 / 74 / 73 / 7
Japan fraud losses, 2026¥236.07 billion, Jan-Aug 2026624 sites raided2 women sent to Cambodia
Put first byChatGPT——

Places with the same number of AIs are ordered by their average place in the AIs' own lists.

More ratings

03Worth knowing

What the AIs noticed while building the list.

Of 2,338 people arrested for special fraud in 2025, only 69 were main perpetrators; 1,379 were money collectors.

Noticed by:
Included it: Claude, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, StepFun, Wenxin.
Source ↗

Japanese returnees told police they had been lured with promises of high pay and watched by Chinese supervisors, yet they were arrested as suspects. The 2026 TIP report lists no Japanese citizen identified as a trafficking victim.

Noticed by:
Included it: Claude, Nova, StepFun. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, DeepSeek, Wenxin.
Source ↗

Japan's record ¥324.11 billion (about US$2.1 billion) is roughly 2% of the low end of UNODC's US$88.3-114.1 billion regional estimate. This is a calculation across two different scopes.

Noticed by:
Included it: StepFun. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, DeepSeek, Wenxin.
Source ↗

Police counts are a floor: of Japanese adults who lost money to a scam, only 18% reported it to police, according to a 1,200-person survey.

Noticed by:
Included it: StepFun. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, DeepSeek, Wenxin.
Source ↗

04How we counted

In plain words, no formulas.

1The question

Top 10 Numbers That Link Japan's Phone-Scam Losses to Scam Centers in Cambodia and Beyond

2Why this topic

It puts Japan's victim losses and foreign enforcement on one page, so the reader can see where the two meet and where the chain is still unproven.

3Where it applies

Japan and the Southeast Asian countries where scams aimed at Japan have been run

4What we looked at

  • Scale of harm recorded in Japan: special-fraud cases, losses and arrests
  • Scale of enforcement abroad: raids, detentions, and Japanese nationals deported or sent home
  • How clearly each figure ties a Japanese victim or suspect to an overseas operation, kept separate from figures that count only activity in the destination country
  • Japan National Police Agency, special-fraud statistics — Recognized special-fraud cases, losses and arrests in Japan. These figures do not record where the calls came from.
  • Japanese prefectural and Tokyo police case reports — Individual cases of Japanese suspects or victims sent home from overseas scam bases
  • Cambodian government figures as reported by AP — Raids, detentions, rescues and deportations in the 2025-26 crackdown, with no breakdown by nationality for Japan
  • UNODC, Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment 2026 — Estimated 2025 scam losses across East and South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, given as a range
  • U.S. Department of State, TIP Report 2026: Japan — Whether Japan identified any of its own citizens as trafficking victims

5Who ranked

The leading AIs, each building its own list of ten independently and naming a source for every place: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, StepFun, DeepSeek, Wenxin.

6How the places were set

The same entry written differently by different AIs was counted as one. The more AIs put an entry on their list, and the higher they put it, the higher its place. "AI agreement" shows how many of the AIs had it on their own list. Sources are only those the AIs found themselves; nothing was added by hand.

05Each AI's own list

🇺🇸 Claude10 places · 4 notes

The same question, answered by Claude alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.

  1. 1
    Aichi police case: 29 Japanese arrested after Poipet, Cambodia (August 2025)

    The closest link between a Japanese loss and a specific base: 29 people, about ¥1.4 billion believed taken by May 2025, with 80 Japanese officers sent to bring them back.

    Source ↗
  2. 2
    Japanese nationals deported from Cambodia: 25 on a Japanese charter flight

    Arrested in the air: because the plane was Japanese, police made the arrests once it took off, citing at least US$1.6 million taken from mostly elderly victims.

    Source ↗
  3. 3
    Japanese nationals deported from Cambodia: 19 men (April 2023)

    Tokyo police held warrants for all 19 before they were flown home after a January Sihanoukville raid.

    Source ↗
  4. 4
    Tokyo and Kanagawa case: 13 Japanese moved from Cambodia (January 2026)

    A joint squad arrested 13 people moved from Cambodia in a fake-police fraud case, and a 53-year-old man tied to that case was arrested in October 2026 (per Japanese-language reports).

    Source ↗
  5. 5
    Police-impersonation cases in Japan, 2025

    The scam type most tied to overseas bases more than doubled to 11,014 cases and about ¥100.5 billion.

    Source ↗
  6. 6
    Japan special fraud 2025: losses of ¥142.3 billion

    A record, nearly double the year before (up 98%), about ¥390 million lost per day.

    Source ↗
  7. 7
    Japan special fraud arrests 2025: 2,338 suspects

    Of 2,338 suspects, 1,379 were money collectors and only 69 were main perpetrators, which shows why the organisers abroad are rarely reached.

    Source ↗
  8. 8
    Cambodia 2026 crackdown detentions: 5,771 suspects in 98 raids

    The detainees came from 23 nationalities, more than 3,400 of them Chinese, but the reports I found gave no Japanese count.

    Source ↗
  9. 9
    Cambodia foreign deportations and departures, 2025-2026

    Roughly 300,000 foreigners were arrested, deported or left, but only 18,864 were deported for cyber fraud, so the headline mixes very different things.

    Source ↗
  10. 10
    UNODC regional fraud losses: US$88.3-114.1 billion in 2025

    Region-wide, not Japan-specific: the range is more than double the 2024 estimate of US$18-37 billion, though the scope may differ.

    Source ↗

What Claude noticed

Japanese nationals are both suspects and recruits: Aichi police heard returnees say they were lured by 'high income' promises and watched by about eight Chinese supervisors, yet they were arrested.

Source ↗

Cash found on the 29 suspects at repatriation was at most about ¥2,700, against about ¥1.4 billion allegedly taken by the base.

Source ↗

Special-fraud losses in Japan nearly doubled in 2025 (+98%), and police-impersonation cases alone more than doubled to 11,014.

Source ↗

Reports on the 20 October 2026 Tokyo arrest of a Sumiyoshi-kai-linked man accused of sending young women to Cambodia did not appear in my searches, so I have not used it as a figure.

Source ↗
🇺🇸 ChatGPT10 places · 2 notes

The same question, answered by ChatGPT alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.

  1. 1
    Japan special fraud losses, 2025

    Special-fraud losses reached ¥142.3 billion in 2025, nearly doubling year over year, but the NPA total does not identify which losses came from overseas compounds.

    Source ↗
  2. 2
    Japan special fraud losses, 2026 through August

    Provisional NPA figures put losses at ¥236.1 billion in the first eight months of 2026, but attribution to Southeast Asian compounds is not supplied.

    Source ↗
  3. 3
    Cambodia scam crackdown, 2025–26

    Authorities said they raided 624 sites and rescued and deported 58,266 foreigners; both counts measure enforcement activity, not Japanese-linked losses or victim status.

    Source ↗
  4. 4
    Tokyo recruitment case linked to Cambodia, 2026

    The Asahi-reported case centers on two women allegedly sent from Kabukicho to Cambodia—the clearest direct Japan-to-compound connection in the prompt, but only an allegation at arrest stage.

  5. 5
    Malaysia phone-scam raid targeting Japan, 2026

    Nine Japanese nationals were among 13 people arrested in Malaysia in a suspected operation targeting Japanese victims.

    Source ↗
  6. 6
    Indonesia cross-border phone-scam arrests, 2026

    AP described Japanese-targeting cross-border scam arrests in Indonesia, including 13 Japanese men in West Java in March; the article also reports a separate Surabaya arrest of 44 suspects.

    Source ↗
  7. 7
    Japan special fraud cases, 2025

    The 27,832 recognized cases mark the scale of harm recorded at home, but do not identify how many victims were contacted by operators based abroad.

    Source ↗
  8. 8
    Japan SNS investment and romance fraud, 2025

    The NPA recorded ¥55.22 billion in losses from SNS romance fraud in 2025, a separate category from special fraud that should not be added without checking definitions.

    Source ↗
  9. 9
    Cambodia: people detained in scam crackdown, 2026

    Cambodia’s first-half 2026 report counted 20,926 detained suspects at 488 locations, but does not state how many were Japanese or victims of trafficking.

    Source ↗
  10. 10
    Regional scam losses estimated by UNODC, 2025

    UNODC’s $88.3–114.1 billion estimate is global scam losses, not losses to Japanese victims and not a count of compound workers.

    Source ↗

What ChatGPT noticed

Japan’s special-fraud losses nearly doubled to ¥142.3 billion in 2025, but the national total is not an overseas-operation attribution table.

Source ↗

Cambodia’s 58,266 rescued-and-deported figure and 3,477 pretrial arrests are distinct categories; neither says how many people were recognized as trafficking victims.

Source ↗
🇺🇸 Nova10 places · 3 notes

The same question, answered by Nova alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.

  1. 1
    Cambodia

    Over 2,100 arrests in recent crackdowns, with Japanese victims and suspects directly linked to Cambodian operations

    Source ↗
  2. 2
    Myanmar

    Japanese nationals detained and extradited from Myanmar bases; operations directly linked to Japanese losses

    Source ↗
  3. 3
    Philippines

    52 Japanese detained at a single base in 2019; direct link between Philippine operations and Japanese losses

    Source ↗
  4. 4
    Thailand

    Luxury high-rise condominiums host scam masters; Japanese victims targeted through sophisticated psychological ploys

    Source ↗
  5. 5
    Vietnam

    Border areas and urban centers host compounds; Japanese victims report confinement and forced scamming

    Source ↗
  6. 6
    Malaysia

    Japanese nationals detained and extradited from Malaysian bases; operations directly linked to Japanese losses

    Source ↗
  7. 7
    Laos

    Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone hosts massive compounds; Japanese victims report starvation and torture

    Source ↗
  8. 8
    South Korea

    Fake account impersonating Bank of Korea Governor lures users into investment groups

    Source ↗
  9. 9
    China

    Mastermind of the Cambodia-based ring is suspected to be a Chinese national

    Source ↗
  10. 10
    Taiwan

    Taiwanese supervisors manage scam operations in Cambodia targeting Japanese victims

    Source ↗

What Nova noticed

Japanese victims are often targeted with sophisticated psychological ploys, such as impersonating police officers

Source ↗

Over 2,100 arrests in recent crackdowns, yet the scale of operations continues to grow

Source ↗

Japanese nationals are often lured with false promises of high income and end up trapped in forced scamming

Source ↗
🇨🇳 StepFun10 places · 3 notes

The same question, answered by StepFun alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.

  1. 1
    2 Japanese students freed from a Myanmar scam compound (October 2026)

    Two Japanese men lured by a social-media job ad, handed to a broker and taken into protective custody from a Chinese-led compound in Payathonzu, Karen State - the tightest Japan-to-compound link on record this month.

    Source ↗
  2. 2
    2 young women sent from Kabukicho to Cambodia (October 2026)

    A Sumiyoshi-kai member is accused of sending two young women from Toyoko, a Kabukicho youth hangout, to Cambodia - Japan's own organised crime now charged with feeding the compounds.

    Source ↗
  3. 3
    29 Japanese arrested over scam calls from a Cambodian base

    Twenty-nine Japanese nationals arrested on suspicion of trying to defraud people in Japan from a base in northwestern Cambodia - the clearest case of Cambodian geography, Japanese victims.

    Source ↗
  4. 4
    25 Japanese nationals deported from Cambodia (November 2025)

    Twenty-five Japanese suspects deported from Cambodia to Japan, on top of 19 in April 2025 - the enforcement chain that turns Cambodian raids into Japanese arrests.

    Source ↗
  5. 5
    236.07 billion yen: Japan's special-fraud losses, January-August 2026

    29,687 recognised cases and 236.07 billion yen lost in eight months - roughly 1 billion yen a day - and the police cannot say how much of it was dialled from abroad.

    Source ↗
  6. 6
    324.11 billion yen: Japan's record fraud losses, 2025

    A record 324.11 billion yen (about US$2.1 billion) lost to special fraud, romance and social-media investment scams in 2025 - and only about 2 per cent of the low end of the regional total.

    Source ↗
  7. 7
    0 Japanese citizens identified as trafficking victims (2026 TIP Report)

    Japan identified foreign trafficking victims but not a single Japanese citizen - even as Thai and Japanese officers were pulling Japanese students out of Karen State compounds.

    Source ↗
  8. 8
    US$88.3-114.1 billion: UNODC's 2025 Asia-Pacific scam-loss estimate

    UNODC put 2025 scam losses across East Asia, South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand at US$88.3-114.1 billion - the pool Japan's record losses sit inside, with no country-level split for Japan.

    Source ↗
  9. 9
    624 compounds raided, about 30,000 detained in Cambodia (July 2025-August 2026)

    Cambodia investigated 793 suspected scam locations, raided 624 and detained roughly 30,000 people - the enforcement wave that produced every Japanese deportation on this list.

    Source ↗
  10. 10
    8.13 billion yen: Japan's gold-bar scam losses in H1 2026

    Gold-bar scams cost Japanese victims 8.13 billion yen in six months, already above the 6.02 billion yen for all of 2025 - a purely domestic harm figure that says nothing about where the call came from.

    Source ↗

What StepFun noticed

Japan's record fraud bill is small change regionally: 324.11 billion yen is about US$2.1 billion, roughly 2 per cent of the low end of UNODC's US$88.3-114.1 billion estimate for 2025 losses across East Asia, South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Source ↗

Japan's own protection record is the weak link: the 2026 TIP Report lists foreign trafficking victims but zero Japanese citizens, while Hong Kong's entire identified victim count - 15 people - consisted of residents forced to work in compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia.

Source ↗

Surveys and police statistics measure different things: 22 per cent of 1,200 Japanese adults told GASA they had encountered a scam in the past year, but only 1 per cent reported a financial loss and just 18 per cent of those scammed went to the police - so official case counts are a floor, not a total.

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🇨🇳 DeepSeek10 places · 3 notes

The same question, answered by DeepSeek alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.

  1. 1
    ¥1.4 billion — Japan losses tied to a Poipet-based group

    The clearest single bridge: a Cambodia base, 29 Japanese suspects and at least ¥1.4 billion stolen from victims in Japan.

  2. 2
    29 — Japanese deported from Cambodia and arrested over the Poipet operation

    Twenty-nine Japanese were flown home and arrested; police say they worked in groups under Chinese managers, calling Japan from Cambodia.

  3. 3
    13 — Japanese deported after the Bavet raid

    A November 2025 raid in Bavet detained 13 Japanese; they were deported and arrested in Japan in January 2026.

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  4. 4
    19 — Japanese deported from Sihanoukville in April 2026

    Nineteen Japanese men, aged 25–55, were sent home from Sihanoukville and arrested by Tokyo police over scams targeting Japanese residents.

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  5. 5
    12 — Japanese rescued from a Cambodian casino compound

    Twelve Japanese were rescued after several asked the embassy for help; police described them as likely trafficking victims, not offenders.

  6. 6
    1 — Japanese man rescued in Phnom Penh and reported as a trafficking victim

    A single rescue in Phnom Penh, with reports that the man had been moved across provinces for trafficking purposes.

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  7. 7
    2 — women from Tokyo's Toyoko district allegedly sent to Cambodia

    Two young women from a Tokyo youth hangout were allegedly sent to a Cambodian scam base by a Sumiyoshi-kai member — the case reported today.

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  8. 8
    ¥142.3 billion — Japan's total special-fraud losses in 2025

    Japan's special-fraud losses nearly doubled to ¥142.3 billion in 2025, but this national total does not say how much came from overseas bases.

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  9. 9
    27,832 — reported special-fraud cases in Japan in 2025

    Cases rose 32.3% to 27,832, yet only 69 masterminds were among 2,338 people arrested.

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  10. 10
    58,266 — Cambodia's 'rescued and deported' foreigners

    The most-quoted crackdown number bundles victims and suspects: 22,045 of the 58,266 were confirmed as directly involved in online scams.

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What DeepSeek noticed

Among 2,338 people arrested for special fraud in Japan in 2025, only 69 were main perpetrators and 414 were gang members or associates — the people answering phones abroad are a small, replaceable layer.

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UNODC's regional scam-loss estimate of $88.3–$114.1 billion for 2025 is more than three times its 2023 estimate, showing how fast the industry has grown beyond any single bilateral case.

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Cambodia's 58,266 figure is often reported as a rescue total, but 22,045 were confirmed as scam workers — a reminder that deportation numbers cannot be used as a proxy for victim protection.

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