Images show abandoned belongings and mock police stations at former scam center

O’SMACH, Cambodia — In the town of O’Smach, along Cambodia’s northern border with Thailand, stands a compound of abandoned buildings that were battered by shelling during recent weeks of armed clashes.

The site, now occupied by Thai troops, had served as one of Cambodia’s notorious scam centers, according to Thai officials.

A six-story building, shown to journalists and international observers on Monday during a trip organized by the Thai military, is scattered with documents, equipment and personal belongings, likely abandoned in haste.

“They are well-organized. They have good infrastructure and systems, and also the workflow and many, many tactics and techniques to do the scams,” said Lt. Gen. Teeranan Nandhakwang, director of the Thai army’s intelligence unit.

Experts say such scam operations in Cambodia and elsewhere have cheated people around the world out of billions of dollars and tricked people