An alleged scammer was arrested and sent to court in Banteay Meanchey’s Poipet district on Monday, accused of taking money from 37 victims in exchange for phony promises to secure them jobs with his company.

The suspect, 26-year-old Oun Neardy, is an employee of DSWADO, a Poipet-based company that produces compact disks. He persuaded 37 people to give him $100 each, promising he would set them up with a job, according to Poipet military police commander Chea Da.

“The victims paid him already, but they did not get any job at DSWADO,” said Da. “He cheated them.” According to Da, Neardy confessed to the scam following his arrest, saying he needed some quick cash.

Victim Chan Da said “we believed him, because he also works for the company, but when we paid the money, we did not get any job”.

Men Pirom, a deputy provincial military police commander, said Neardy has been sent to court and police had warned the victims to exercise caution in the future. “We appeal to residents: Please don’t believe someone so easily,” he said.

Contact information for DSWADO was not immediately available yesterday.