NHK has learned that Tokyo police have obtained arrest warrants for 19 Japanese nationals on suspicion of running phone scams from Cambodia targeting people in Japan.

Investigative sources say Cambodian authorities searched a hotel room in the southern city of Sihanoukville in January and discovered a list of Japanese citizens believed to be targets in a fraud scheme.

The sources say Japanese police found that the list includes the name of a Tokyo resident in her 60s who was defrauded of about 250,000 yen, or some 1,900 dollars, in electronic money in January.

The sources say the victim had received a phone call in which she was fraudulently told she was behind on a payment for an online service.

They say Tokyo police suspect involvement by 19 Japanese nationals staying at the Cambodian hotel.

The police are expected to transfer the suspects from Cambodia to Japan for their imminent arrest.

The police believe the suspects carried out phone scams from Cambodia because they thought the operation was less likely to be uncovered than in Japan.