US Restricts Visas For 32 Individuals Tied To Cambodia's Cybercrime Network
The US State Department has imposed cybercrime-related visa restrictions on 32 individuals, most of them linked to Prince Group, the Cambodia-based conglomerate Washington accuses of running a transnational criminal organisation behind large-scale cyber-scam operations targeting Americans.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement on September 22, 2026 that everyone targeted was "responsible for or complicit in defrauding Americans through cybercrime, cyber-enabled crime and related activity," and that the majority of those named were affiliated with Prince Group. None of the 32 individuals were publicly identified.
Part Of A New Cybercrime Visa Policy
The restrictions are the latest step under a policy the State Department announced in July 2026, when it created a new global visa restriction authority under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act specifically targeting "individuals responsible for, or complicit in, cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, such as those involved in cyberscams, and sextortion," according to the State Department's own release. The policy also allows restrictions on immediate family members of those involved.
Pigott said cybercriminals scam Americans out of tens of billions of dollars a year, including $18.2 billion in the most recent full year, and that "the Trump Administration will use every available tool to protect Americans, dismantle criminal scam networks and impose costs on those who enable them," according to according to UPI.
Prince Group's Sanctions History
Prince Group, based in Phnom Penh, holds investments in entertainment, finance and real estate while also, according to the US Treasury, building, operating and managing scam compounds that rely on human trafficking to run cyber-fraud operations targeting victims worldwide.
The Treasury designated Prince Group a transnational criminal organisation in October 2025 alongside the UK, in what officials called the largest action ever targeting a criminal network in Southeast Asia, then sanctioned 146 targets including founder Chen Zhi (also known as Vincent), before expanding the sanctions to a further nine individuals and 26 entities in June 2026.
Reuters, via the Bangkok Post, confirmed the September 22 action and noted that South Korea and the European Union have also sanctioned Prince Group separately.
Casino Games Hub
Timed Alongside Cambodia's Own Crackdown
The move comes days after Cambodian authorities showcased dismantled scam compounds ahead of Phnom Penh's International Conference on Combating Online Scams (September 23-24, 2026), where officials said all large-scale compounds identified in a year-long crackdown had been shut, even as they acknowledged that criminal networks have splintered into smaller, harder-to-trace operations.
The combination of visa restrictions, financial sanctions and Cambodia's own enforcement drive reflects a broader push by US and regional authorities to squeeze the infrastructure - from compound operators to individual facilitators - behind cyber-enabled scams, many of which use gambling-style apps and sports betting products to launder proceeds or lure victims.
