International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organized Crime

  The growth of cyber scam centres around the world is fuelling a global human trafficking crisis on a scale and organizational complexity rarely seen since the height of the transatlantic slave trade. In just a few years, hundreds of thousands of people have been transported into scam operations, many of them forced to perpetrate fraud under threat and in abusive conditions. Often hailing from countries with high unemployment rates or a surplus of tech-savvy graduates, those duped with promises of legitimate jobs may not match stereotypical images of a trafficking victim , leading both them, and those they come into contact with along their journey, to miss important red flags. But vulnerable people in unfamiliar settings, lacking support or access to their passports, are easier to manipulate, intimidate and control. Once they are inside the scam compounds where these operations are conducted, getting them out is difficult. Stopping victims from reaching compounds could be a f...

  Repurposed hotels, casinos, and private compounds across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines have become centres of global fraud . These compounds are operated by organized criminal networks that exploit hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom are trafficked and forced to perpetrate online scams. Victims include not only those defrauded online but also the scam workers themselves, subjected to threats, violence, sexual exploitation and extreme working conditions. The report details how cyber scams —including ‘pig-butchering’ romance-investment scams, crypto fraud, impersonation and sextortion— now generate tens of billions of dollars annually. These illicit operations thrive due to weak rule of law, widespread corruption, and complicity from powerful figures who operate as ‘role shifters’ —individuals who blur the lines between government, business and crime. Scam compounds often enjoy protection from local elites and security forces, and rely on global money laund...

  A focus on online fraud and how generative AI can serve criminal interests. Now is the time for India and the United States, both exploited by online scammers, to show global leadership in jointly tackling this growing threat. A global rise in cyber scams India has long been at the centre of discussions about scams and online fraud . The country emerged as a hub for the call centre industry in the 1990s, when prominent Western companies – attracted by the potential savings and the fact that English is widely spoken in the country – offshored this component of their business there. More recently, companies have begun to outsource to other countries, and some of those who had previously worked in Indian centres have reportedly stolen databases from their previous employers to set up their own call centres, offering legitimate, but in some cases fraudulent support. Today, online scammers in India often hide behind legitimate businesses . The companies reportedly defraud victims – ...