Pakistanis missing Cambodia scam cases have surged past 3,300, according to fresh data placed before Pakistan’s National Assembly a number large enough to fill a stadium block, and disturbing enough that lawmakers are now demanding answers.
Behind every entry in that figure is a young graduate, a jobless breadwinner, or a computer-literate teenager who believed a Facebook advertisement. Most never came home.
Pakistanis Missing in Cambodia: What the FIA Data Shows
The Federal Investigation Agency told a National Assembly standing committee that 24,922 Pakistanis travelled to Cambodia between 2024 and 2026. Of them, 3,312 did not return nearly 1 in 7 travellers simply disappeared from official records.
FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar Raja said 80 percent of these travellers left on ordinary visit or tourist visas, not work permits. That detail matters: it shows the scam economy is bypassing labour-migration checks entirely, exploiting a loophole regulators have struggled to close.
How the Fake Job Scam Recruitment Pipeline Works
Recruitment rarely looks sinister at first. Agents post polished adverts for IT, call-centre, or “digital marketing” jobs in Phnom Penh or Sihanoukville, promising salaries around $1,000 a month — attractive figures for Pakistan’s underemployed graduates.
Investigators say the pipeline typically follows a pattern:
- Fake job ads target educated youth with computer or English skills on Facebook and WhatsApp
- Local agents in Lahore, Karachi and Gujranwala collect processing fees, sometimes exceeding $2,000
- Recruits fly out on tourist visas, avoiding overseas-employment screening
- On arrival, passports are confiscated within hours
- Victims are informed they have been “sold” to a compound operator for a set price
Inside the Compounds: Forced Labour, Torture and Cyber Fraud
Once inside, the job vanishes and the real operation begins. Survivors describe being forced into online fraud — building fake profiles, running romance and investment scams, and defrauding victims across the US, Europe and India.
One Karachi survivor, identified by ARY News only as Charles, said workers who missed fraud “targets” were beaten or electrocuted. Amnesty International has separately documented dark rooms, electric-shock punishment and sexual assault across more than 50 identified compounds in Cambodia.
Punjab and Karachi: Where Most Victims Are From
Officials at Karachi’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle say the majority of trafficked Pakistanis originate from Punjab, with active recruitment cells also uncovered in Karachi and Gujranwala. Educated, unemployed young men are the primary target demographic.
- SHO Sohail Mehmood Sheikh (AHTC Karachi) has registered 14 inquiries and two formal cases tied to Cambodia recruitment networks
- In February 2026, FIA arrested a six-member gang that had already trafficked over 100 Pakistanis, charging up to $2,000 per victim
- A separate case saw suspects arrested in Gilgit-Baltistan for luring citizens toward compounds near the Vietnam border
Pakistani Migration and Non-Return Data (2024–2026)
| Destination | Travellers | Did Not Return | Visa Type (majority) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cambodia | 24,922 | 3,312 | Visit/tourist (80%) |
| Azerbaijan | — | 7,721 | Visit visa (70%) |
| Belarus | — | 580 | Various irregular routes |
| Myanmar | ~4,000 | ~2,500 | Tourist visa |
Not Just Pakistan: A Region-Wide Trafficking Economy
Pakistan is one node in a far larger machine. INTERPOL’s 2026 Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment found trafficking victims from nearly 80 countries funnelled into Southeast Asian scam centres, with Cambodia among the worst-affected hubs.
READ MORE: Young patient allegedly tortured to death at Islamabad mental health center
Bangladesh has repatriated hundreds of victims since June alone, while India has traced more than 5,000 nationals to the same compounds — some cases involving cross-border recruitment networks that investigators say link back to Pakistan-based agents.
Government Response and Rescue Efforts
Pakistan’s Foreign Office says roughly 2,300 citizens have been deported from Cambodia over the past three years, with around 1,000 sent home in the last three months alone as arrests accelerate. In one April case, 84 stranded Pakistanis — 76 men and eight women — were cleared for return after a compound raid.
- Cambodian authorities rescued over 100 Pakistanis from scam centres following complaints from Pakistan’s mission
- A new Cambodian law effective April 7 has fast-tracked investigations to within 72 hours
- The FIA has penalised more than 100 officials for alleged collusion with smuggling networks since the 2023 Greece boat tragedy
What Officials and Rights Groups Are Saying
Amnesty International’s Co-Regional Director, Montse Ferrer, said Cambodia “must investigate all compounds and related casinos, properly identify and assist all victims of human trafficking,” arguing the country’s own crackdown remains incomplete.
Pakistani officials, meanwhile, concede enforcement gaps at exit points. The FIA has acknowledged that most trafficked citizens leave legally on tourist visas a category current border screening is not designed to catch before departure.
What This Means for Job Seekers
The scale of this crisis should change how Pakistanis evaluate overseas job offers, particularly ones requiring travel on a tourist visa for supposed employment. Legitimate employers arrange proper work visas and verifiable contracts not urgent, cash-upfront travel bookings.
Families of the missing continue to press the Foreign Office for updates, while rights groups warn that thousands more remain untraced across the region’s scam economy. The gap between the 24,922 who left and the 3,312 unaccounted for is not a statistic it is thousands of unresolved cases.
