A high-level probe by central agencies is learnt to have uncovered a Pakistani link in the Cambodia job scam that duped hundreds of Indians with fake employment offers, leading to their trafficking and exploitation abroad.
The scam came to light in 2024, when over 5,000 Indians were suspected to be trapped in Cambodia after being allegedly deceived with fake job offers and forced into cyber crime activities. Some of them have since been rescued and brought back to India.
“After returning from these scam compounds, a number of victims informed officials of central agencies that they were recruited by Pakistani agents,” said a source. During forensic examination, digital footprints, including IP logs from recruitment chats and calls, pointed to operatives in Pakistan, said the source.
“On the basis of their information, forensic analysis of such IP addresses were examined, and they have been traced to servers and handlers based in Pakistan, revealing a coordinated network that preyed on vulnerable job-seekers from places like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Mumbai, Telangana and Kerala,” the source said.
According to the source, the issue was also discussed at the two-day “Anti-Terrorism Conference-2025” here in December.
“This is not just a cyber-fraud racket — it’s a targeted operation exploiting our youth,” said the source, adding that the central agencies, including the CBI and NIA, have widened the net.
After tracking the IP addresses to Pakistan, the central agencies have registered all these IP addresses in the ‘suspect registry’. The registry, which was created based on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and developed by Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), contains data of 1.4 million cyber criminals linked to financial fraud and various cyber crimes, which has been shared with all banks.
