Online scam centres fuelling human trafficking worldwide, warns UN agency

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing reporting from its staff, Anadolu and Reuters, reported that the International Organization for Migration has warned online scam compounds are driving one of the fastest-expanding forms of human trafficking worldwide. IOM Director General Amy Pope made the warning in Geneva on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, ahead of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

According to the report, victims from more than 80 countries have been drawn into criminal scam operations, often through false job advertisements on social media. Pope said the networks increasingly seek educated applicants, including people with strong English skills and university backgrounds, by presenting what appear to be legitimate employment offers. Scam centres in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, may involve as many as 300,000 workers, she said.

The IOM said people who arrive at these compounds can have travel documents taken from them, be subjected to physical and psychological abuse, and be blocked from leaving. Pope also cited recent UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates putting global annual losses from online scam operations at $88bn to $114bn last year. The IOM has assisted more than 3,500 survivors from 33 countries, many returning home traumatised, indebted and without resources after prolonged captivity.

The agency urged governments and partners to strengthen cross-border cooperation, prevention, awareness campaigns, safe return and reintegration support. Pope also warned that survivors are sometimes treated as offenders rather than trafficking victims, an issue that matters because the scam operations combine forced criminality, international fraud and exploitation across borders.