NHK has learned Japanese police have obtained arrest warrants for 12 Japanese nationals in Cambodia on suspicion of fraud. The suspects are believed to have been working for a Japanese phone scam group, making fraudulent calls to potential victims in Japan.
The police have already sent investigators to Cambodia. They plan to arrest the 12 people next week after transferring them back to Japan.
The Japanese nationals were taken into protective custody by local authorities in the southeastern Cambodian city of Bavet in August.
Multiple cellphones and lists containing the names of Japanese people were also discovered in the room where they were found.
An investigation by Japanese police found that the suspects had impersonated police officers and others in phone calls to victims in Japan, deceiving them into giving up cash.
Sources say that some of the individuals explained to the local authorities that they were lured to Cambodia with promises of high-paying, easy jobs.
The police suspect that these individuals traveled to Cambodia after responding to ads for illegal part-time jobs that they found on social media.
According to the Japanese National Police Agency, the police arrested a total of 69 Japanese nationals last year in Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam for their alleged involvement in phone scams. Around 70 percent of that total, or 47, were arrested in Cambodia.