Bangladesh, Dec. 24 -- Palau, a Pacific island nation better known for turquoise lagoons and luxury diving resorts than cybercrime, has found itself drawn into the expanding orbit of a global scam industry worth tens of billions of dollars. Recent police raids on two hotels in the countrys main city of Koror have exposed how sophisticated online fraud operations can take root even in some of the worlds most remote and tightly knit societies.

What investigators uncovered inside the Cocoro Hotel and the Beluu Sea View Resort challenges long-held assumptions about where cybercrime thrives. The documents seized in those raids-ranging from digital forensic reports to internal spreadsheets and chat logs-paint a picture of a transnational crimi...