UN agency warns of rising trafficking to Asian scam hubs

The United Nations migration agency has issued a stark warning about a dramatic increase in human trafficking into forced criminality, with hundreds of thousands of people being lured by fake online job ads into scam compounds across Southeast Asia. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, that victims from more than 80 countries are being recruited, often through social media, and then held against their will to operate global cyber scams.

IOM Director General Amy Pope told reporters in Geneva that criminal syndicates are specifically targeting educated, English-speaking individuals with promises of legitimate work abroad. Once deceived, victims are transported, often on tourist visas, to compounds in countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. There, their passports and phones are confiscated, and they are locked inside and monitored. They are compelled through violence, threats, and debt bondage to carry out online fraudulent schemes, suffering physical and mental abuse with little chance of escape.

The scale of the criminal industry is vast. The IOM cited U.N. estimates that financial losses from these scams across East and...