The political rival exposed that the black industry's annual revenue exceeds 19 billion US dollars, which can buy 292 F-16 fighter jets.

On August 13, Sam Rainsy, a former opposition leader from Cambodia now in exile, posted on his Facebook that the annual income of the fraud crime network within Cambodia reaches up to 19 billion US dollars. Calculating with the latest F-16 fighter jet's unit price of about 65 million US dollars, this amount of money could buy approximately 292 F-16 jets.

Sam Rainsy pointed out that the staggering scale of profits from these scam gangs is close to the national military expenditure level, raising concerns about the prevalence of online fraud in Cambodia. He emphasized that this is not only an economic issue but also involves social order and security risks, and called for international attention to Cambodian fraud and transnational crime.

This statement sparked heated discussions on social media, with many users shocked and questioning the local regulatory and law enforcement capabilities, fearing that the huge illegal income might be used to expand crime or evade legal sanctions.