Criminal gangs increasingly lure people to work in online scam centers, UN migration agency warns
The agency said victims from over 80 countries are being forced into scams after fake job ads lure them abroad.
- On Tuesday, IOM Director-General Amy Pope briefed media in Geneva, Switzerland, warning of a dramatic surge in human trafficking cases linked to online scam operations across Asia.
- Criminal networks lure victims through fake social media job advertisements promising work abroad, then seize identity documents and force them through violence and "debt bondage" to participate in scams.
- Pope said the IOM assisted over 3,500 victims from nearly 40 countries between 2022 and 2025, with citizens from Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Bangladesh most affected; "we're seeing victims from over 80 different countries."
- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates losses across east Asia, Australia, and New Zealand reached $114 billion last year, while regional "scam compounds" hold hundreds of thousands of trafficked workers.
- Traffickers specifically target educated professionals, Pope said, noting "they're recruiting people who often speak English very well, who often have graduate degrees," with cases expanding across Asia.
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UN warns of increasing trafficking via online job adverts
Trafficking networks are increasingly using fake vacancies online to lure thousands of people into forced labour, the UN International Organization for Migration has warned. In an alert issued on Tuesday, the agency expressed concern over the expanding, multibillion-dollar criminal industry that turns job seekers into cybercriminals. IOM Director General, Amy Pope, noted that victims from […] UN warns of increasing trafficking via online job adv…
UN warns that victims from 80 countries have been captured by criminal networks that force them to operate digital frauds under threats, violence and torture
UN reports sharp rise in human trafficking for online fraudThe UN's International Organization for Migration reports a surge in the recruitment of hundreds of thousands of people to work in online fraud centers. Victims are lured with fake job ads on social media and then held by force.
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