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By CNET Asia Staff, 22 July 2003 06:19

NEWS Cambodian authorities have repatriated 20 foreigners arrested last week for their involvement in the country's first known telecoms scam. According to the BBC, the expelled comprise 14 Britons, two Americans and several Australian, New Zealand, Thai and Philippine nationals. Operating out of Cambodia, the group had cold-called people all over the world using cheap internet phone connections to lure them into investing in the London and Hong Kong stock markets. Cambodian officials said their passport records show they had also worked from neighbouring Laos and Thailand. "They get them in with legitimate investments in what might be small amounts of money. People make a return on these initial investments and come back with larger sums of money," a police investigator was quoted as saying. This confidence trick has since been named the 'Boiler Room scam' after a movie of the same name. The show, depicted "fly-by-night stockbrokers involved in shady dealings to rip off investors", the report said. In the movie, after buyers would be convinced to buy into shaky firms on inflated or made-up claims. The report also said the foreigners marketed an unauthorized internet-based telephone service which bypassed the IDD networks of local telephone operators. Cambodian authorities had initially planned to prosecute the group but dropped charges after they paid a fine of over US$27,000, BBC said. However, their passports have been withheld until outstanding phone charges are cleared. In addition, the group's equipment, which included 28 computers, has been confiscated, said the report. According to a legal expert cited in the report, slapping charges on these foreigners would be a challenge in Cambodia as the developing country has no telecommunications laws.