Fake Australian, Chinese and Brazilian police stations: BBC goes inside a seized scam compound

Fake Australian, Chinese and Brazilian police stations: BBC goes inside a seized scam compound6 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJonathan Head,South East Asia Correspondent,Lulu LuoandThanyarat Doksone,O Smach, CambodiaWatch: BBC goes inside seized Cambodian scam centreWandering down the unlit corridors of a six-storey building behind the Royal Hill casino, each door opens onto a different world. In one there is a perfect replica of a Vietnamese bank. In another, you're in an Australian police station. A Chinese police officer's shirt hangs in one corner. Motivational messages have been painted on the walls. "Money Coming From Everywhere", read the Chinese characters on one sign. Discarded fake hundred dollar bills are lying all over the floor.This was a massive scam compound, just inside Cambodia in a border town called O Smach. Thousands of people from different countries worked here, under a harsh regime which strictly regimented their lives, defrauding thousands of others across the world of their savings.In December Royal Hill was bombed by the Thai air force during the brief border war between the two countries – the Thais say Cambodian drones were being launched from the casino. The workers fled, leaving behind uneaten bowls of noodles, half-drunk cans of coke and a pungent smell.Today, Royal Hill is empty, aside from the Thai soldiers occupying it. The windows have been shattered by the bombardment, and in places gaping holes have been blown through the walls and roof, coating everything with dust.Lulu Luo/BBCVietnamese police caps in one of the many rooms in Royal Hill CasinoThe Thai military brought us there because they said they wanted the world to see just how big the scam industry had become in Cambodia. We need international help in shutting this scourge down, they told us; but it also serves as a secondary justification for the Thai air attacks on Cambodian targets in December. The Cambodian government has protested a...