September 29, 2026
PHNOM PENH – Syed Aon Muhammad Rizv is finally back home with his new bride in Kampot province, after spending months in an immigration centre. The Pakistani national wants to turn his “mistaken arrest” into a teachable moment for anti-scam authorities.
On May 31, he was arrested at the home of his Cambodian fiancé, following allegations that he was involved in online scam crimes. He was then the subject of a deportation order and spent three months in an immigration detention centre in Preah Sihanouk province, before being released on September 4.
His release came after his partner filed a series of complaints with the Ministry of Interior.
“My release occurred after she pursued my case with the authorities. Eventually, she was able to speak directly to senior officials,” Muhammad Rizv told The Post.
“Following her request, my situation was reviewed and on September 4, I was released. I was also informed that a mistake had been made,” he said.
When his story was first raised by The Post in June, authorities insisted that he was illegally resident in the Kingdom and that a tip had resulted in his arrest. The Post subsequently viewed his current visa and work permit documentation.
Muhammad Rizv suggested that his case raised an important question about how information was verified before arrests were made.
“In the technology industry, we understand the importance of verification. If a system generates an alert, an engineer does not immediately assume that a particular person is responsible. The alert is investigated, the data is checked and different sources are compared,” he said.
He urged to apply the same principle when investigating people in connection with cybercrime.
Now that he has been freed, he says he wishes to continue his professional life in Cambodia, using his background in IT, digital marketing, SEO, websites, online platforms and technology-related projects, to help raise awareness about online scams.
“The important point for me was that I understood from the authorities that a mistake had occurred. I believe mistakes can happen in any system. The important thing is having a mechanism to identify and correct them quickly.
“This is particularly important in cybercrime investigations because digital information can be misunderstood very easily.
“For example, if someone is found communicating with a suspicious account, that does not automatically mean that person is part of a scam operation. Investigators need to establish what the connection actually is,” he said.
Syed believed that his case could be part of a wider issue in Cambodia with how technology can be used to identify suspects, while protecting innocent people.
“Today, almost anyone can become a victim. Someone can receive a message saying ‘your bank account has a problem. Click this link.’ They click it, enter their password or OTP, and the attacker may gain access to their account,” he warned.
“Another person may receive a fake investment opportunity through Telegram or Facebook. Another may download an application that looks legitimate but secretly collects information.
These are simple examples, but they can cause serious financial damage,” he warned.
Syed said he strongly support action against genuine scam operations, online fraud, hacking, human trafficking, forced cybercrime and organised digital crime. But he urged the investigation to be technology-driven and evidence-based.
“A simple way to understand this is to imagine a bank robbery. You would not arrest someone simply because they were standing near the bank. You would look for CCTV, fingerprints, phone records, financial evidence, witnesses and other evidence connecting that person to the crime. Cybercrime investigations should work in a similar way — except the evidence is often digital,” he noted.
He urged investigators to base prosecutions on verified digital evidence rather than relying on one technical indicator. He highlighted that while he supports the current online scam crackdown but called for it to be not just “harder — but also smarter”.
“I believe Cambodia has an opportunity to become stronger in this area by combining law enforcement, cybersecurity, digital forensics and public education,” he said.
In his view, many of the foreigners being arrested or deported from Cambodia are likely to represent only the lower-level or visible part of a much larger network. He said the people being caught may be small players or, in some cases, victims themselves, while the real organisers and people controlling these operations can remain much harder to identify and reach.
He believed that some higher-level operators may have already moved their operations to other countries, while others may still be living in Cambodia but remain difficult to identify because their real identities, financial connections, digital infrastructure and involvement are not publicly known.
“This creates a serious problem: The people who are the easiest to find may not necessarily be the people controlling the operation,” he noted, adding that innocent people should not be mistaken for criminals.
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