Two Indonesian men, Abdul and Hafiz, have been left homeless after being kicked out of a scam operation in Cambodia. Their Chinese boss stole their passports, leaving them without identification or a way to return home.

Young, naive and now sleeping rough on a plastic sheet outside their embassy in Phnom Penh, Indonesians Abdul* and Hafiz* are among the expendable human resources of Southeast Asia’s scam trade. After a year-long tumble through Cambodia’s vortex of scams, they were cast out onto a pavement – penniless and without passports – waiting for the embassy to issue new travel documents and a plane ticket home. “Our Chinese boss stole all of our passports,” said Abdul, 20, gesturing to a dozen or so of.....