Inside the scam centres conning Brits and other victims around the world out of billions of pounds using fake romances and other cons – as ringleaders are executed

In a Cambodian compound with rooms designed to look like Singapore and Australia police offices, papers were strewn across desks and floors: the detritus of a fraud factory abandoned in haste. Among the documents were profiles of a 73-year-old Japanese retiree, complete with his phone number and bank account balance, and an American woman who disclosed that she was a victim of domestic abuse. Nearby were scripts to commit love scams and impersonate police, as well as a room set up to resemble a Vietnamese bank office. Scammers who used to occupy the building, and others across the region, targeted…