The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued an alert on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, about the rapid expansion of a multibillion-dollar criminal industry that traffics hundreds of thousands of people annually under the guise of legitimate overseas jobs, only to force them into online scam operations.

Amy Pope, IOM Director General, told journalists in Geneva that victims come from over 80 countries and are trafficked into scam centers mainly across Asia. Recruiters specifically target individuals who speak good English and often hold degrees, advertising what appear to be ordinary jobs on social media.

Once trafficked, victims are confined within compounds, stripped of passports and phones, and kept under constant surveillance. IOM warns that travel on tourist visas instead of work permits is a key red flag for potential victims.

Crucially, IOM emphasizes that those forced to conduct scams from inside these compounds are victims of trafficking, not criminals, and should be protected rather than prosecuted. Pope noted, “We’re seeing many of the survivors of trafficking actually being identified as criminals, but in reality, they are the victims of this crime.”

Between 2022 and 2025, IOM assisted more than 3,500 victims of forced criminality in South-East Asia, originating from 39 countries including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Bangladesh.

Data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that losses from scam offenses in 2025 across East and South-East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand ranged between $88.3 billion and $114.1 billion. These losses far exceed the resources currently devoted to combating trafficking. Pope warned, “Unless we take the issue quite seriously, we anticipate it will continue to grow.”