Madagascar scam centres tied to Cambodia, officials say

Madagascar raids on online scam centres have exposed alleged links to criminal operations that previously worked in Cambodia, officials in Madagascar and the United States said.

Madagascar's justice ministry said 13 Chinese-run scam compounds were taken down in August and September in operations carried out with the US Department of Justice. The ministry said the sites conducted romance, cryptocurrency and investment fraud and were mostly operated by Chinese nationals, 148 of whom have been extradited to China.

The US Department of Justice said about $52 million in cryptocurrency was seized in a single day and more than 3,200 electronic devices were processed.

Madagascar officials said around 20 nationals of Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe remained in custody, although initial findings suggested they may have been victims of human trafficking. Police crime unit chief Hassan Mouigni said some had been recruited through Facebook for supposed commercial work, then had passports confiscated and were forced to scam.

US authorities identified a Malaysian national, Chui Kok Wa, as the man charged with running one romance scam scheme from a villa near Antananarivo. Mouigni said Chui's passport showed he had previously been in Cambodia.

The Justice Department said it believed Chui's criminal group, with connections to Malaysia and China, opened scam compounds in Madagascar in early 2025 and likely moved those operations from Cambodia after law enforcement action there.

A Madagascar communications ministry cybercrime official, Tsitohaina Ralihivao, also linked the Madagascar compounds to a 2025 crackdown on scam centres in Cambodia near the Thai border. An FBI court document said three Brazilian nationals reported being moved from Cambodia to Antananarivo in early May 2026 after armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand and police activity against scam compounds in Cambodia.

Mouigni said US authorities intervened because the centres primarily targeted English-speaking countries, including the United States, Canada and Pakistan.