Cambodia on Thursday deported 122 Chinese nationals, including 16 women, suspected of operating a telecoms scam to extort money from victims in China, a senior police official said.

"Chinese police had sent two planes to pick them up from Cambodia after we decided to deport them," Lieutenant General Ouk Hai Seila, chief of the investigation department at the General Department of Immigration, told Xinhua.

He said the suspects were deported to southwest China's Sichuan province via Siem Reap International Airport in northwest Cambodia's Siem Reap province.

"They will face legal action in China," he said.

He said the suspects were arrested at two locations on Aug. 2 by Cambodian authorities in northwest Banteay Meanchey province after a tip-off from the Chinese side.

They had used VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol, a type of internet phone service) from Cambodia to threaten and extort money from victims in China, he said, adding that a large number of telephones and laptops, and a name list of Chinese victims were confiscated during the raids.

According to Seila, since 2011, Cambodia has deported 1,050 Chinese suspects in telecoms scams to China.