Phnom Penh Declaration Sets Out Goals to Tackle Online Scams, but Falls Short of Legal Force

Twenty-seven countries and seven international bodies signed a non-binding declaration in Phnom Penh outlining eleven goals to combat online scams, protect trafficking victims, and dismantle criminal networks.

Delegates from 27 countries and seven international organisations concluded the International Conference on Combating Online Scams (ICCOS) in Phnom Penh on September 24 by jointly adopting the Phnom Penh Declaration — a non-binding roadmap for confronting technology-facilitated fraud.

The two-day gathering, hosted by Cambodia and supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Interpol, and the Lancang-Mekong Integrated Law Enforcement and Security Cooperation Center (LMLECC), produced an eleven-point statement of shared objectives.

At its core, the declaration argues that no single government, institution, or sector can tackle online scams on its own. Sustained, coordinated action across borders is needed, it says, to break apart criminal networks and cut off the financial streams that keep them operational.

The first three commitments centre on deepening international cooperation, disrupting the structures that enable cyber-enabled crime, and tracing, freezing, and seizing the proceeds of such activity.

Points four through seven call for greater investment in technological innovation, tighter policy and legal frameworks, stronger institutional capacity, and expanded public-private partnerships.

The eighth through tenth goals address the human cost: they affirm that trafficking victims should not be prosecuted for offences they were coerced into committing, and they urge stronger measures to prevent trafficking in the first place.

The final objective commits participants to dismantling large-scale scam compounds and the infrastructure that supports them.

Despite the breadth of those pledges, the declaration is entirely voluntary. It does not create legally binding obligations on any signatory. Implementation will depend on the domestic laws and international instruments already in force within each participating country.

The text also stipulates that all actions taken under the declaration must uphold human rights, due process, privacy, and the protection of personal data.