US EditionAI helping traffickers identify modern slavery victims as exploitation 'greater than ever', report finds
The commissioner said 23,000 potential victims were referred in 2025 as artificial intelligence and digital platforms help traffickers scale abuse.
- A report released by the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner on Monday warns that AI-enabled platforms allow criminals to "recruit, groom and control victims at scale," making exploitation increasingly difficult for authorities to detect.
- Data from the National Referral Mechanism recorded 23,411 potential victims referred to the Home Office in 2025, a 22% increase over the previous year and the highest volume since the system began in 2009.
- Traffickers are leveraging AI-enabled scams and synthetic identities, while tactics such as "remote mothering" involve perpetrators acting as protective figures to monitor and control victims through tracking apps.
- Without urgent action against criminal networks, the report warns, exploitation will not disappear but become "more digital" and deeply embedded in daily life, threatening to outpace current detection and legal responses.
- Eleanor Lyons, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, stated the issue is "greater than ever," as technological change is expected to "significantly reshape the exploitation landscape" through fraud and cryptocurrency laundering.
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The number of cases of exploitation in the United Kingdom has risen to a record high and will continue to increase over the next ten years. This is the warning issued by the country's independent anti-slavery commissioner (IASC), British media report. "We always thought this happened in far-off places, but it is happening in the UK too," says the commissioner. She calls on the government to take action. The number of victims of modern slavery in…
Cost-of-living crisis fuelling record levels of slavery in Britain, watchdog warns
The cost-of-living crisis is fuelling record levels of slavery across Britain, a leading watchdog has warned.The independent anti-slavery commissioner (IASC) released a report on Monday, which revealed that over 23,000 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the monitoring group in 2025 - the highest number ever recorded.The report revealed a 22 per cent increase from the previous year, and warned that people trafficking, forced lab…
AI helping human traffickers recruit and control victims at scale, report finds
Higher living costs, debt and and insecure work are leading to more exploitation of UK nationals while advances in technology are making it easier for criminals to recruit and control victims, a new report has warned
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