Human Trafficking

UN Warns Human Trafficking Networks Are Merging With AI, Cryptocurrency and Global Scam Economies

A new United Nations report warns that human trafficking is becoming increasingly intertwined with artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and global online fraud, revealing how organised crime has evolved into a sophisticated digital economy that exploits both those forced to commit scams and those who fall victim to them.

By Not For Sale · July 22, 2026

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The United Nations says organised crime has entered a new era. Human trafficking is no longer simply about moving people across borders for forced labour or sexual exploitation. Increasingly, it is becoming part of a sophisticated criminal ecosystem where artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, cyber fraud and digital exploitation reinforce one another on a global scale.

What This Article Covers

What the United Nations’ latest report says about the evolution of global trafficking networks.
How scam compounds have become one of the fastest-growing forms of modern-day slavery.
Why artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency are changing organised crime.
Who is most vulnerable to these expanding criminal networks.
What governments and international agencies are doing in response.
Why traditional approaches to combating human trafficking may no longer be enough.
What this means for prevention, survivor protection and international cooperation.

Key Takeaways

The UN says organised criminal groups are increasingly combining human trafficking, cybercrime, AI and cryptocurrency into integrated criminal businesses.
Thousands of trafficking victims continue to be forced to operate online scams from heavily guarded compounds across Southeast Asia.
These criminal organisations are expanding into Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Europe.
Artificial intelligence is making fraud more convincing while cryptocurrency continues to facilitate cross-border money laundering.
Governments are improving cooperation, but international enforcement continues to struggle against highly adaptable criminal networks.
Human trafficking increasingly functions as part of a much broader criminal economy rather than an isolated offence.
Preventing exploitation now requires coordinated responses across technology, finance, migration, policing and survivor protection.

Why This Story Matters Now

Human trafficking has never been a static crime. For decades, organised criminal groups have adapted their methods in response to new technologies, changing migration patterns and law enforcement efforts. However, a major new assessment by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) suggests that something more fundamental is taking place.

According to the report, criminal syndicates that originally built vast online scam operations in Southeast Asia are evolving into diversified global enterprises. Their activities increasingly span human trafficking, cyber-enabled fraud, cryptocurrency laundering, online gambling, identity theft, money laundering and artificial intelligence-assisted deception.

The report describes these organisations as operating less like traditional gangs and more like multinational criminal corporations. Rather than specialising in one illegal activity, they combine multiple revenue streams while using sophisticated financial systems, encrypted communications and digital technologies to evade detection.

For those working to prevent modern-day slavery, this shift is significant. Human trafficking is no longer simply a means of exploiting labour or sexual services. In many cases, trafficking itself has become the mechanism that powers vast digital fraud operations affecting victims across the world.

This evolution presents governments with a challenge that few existing legal systems were designed to address. Agencies responsible for tackling cybercrime, organised crime, financial crime and human trafficking have often operated separately. The UN argues that criminal groups are increasingly exploiting these institutional divisions.

As criminal organisations become more integrated, responses to them must do the same.

The Background

Human trafficking remains one of the world’s largest criminal industries. The International Labour Organization estimates that nearly 50 million people were living in situations of modern slavery in 2021, including approximately 28 million people in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage.

Historically, public understanding of trafficking has focused heavily on sexual exploitation. While this remains a major concern, international agencies have repeatedly emphasised that trafficking takes many forms.

These include:

Forced labour
Domestic servitude
Agricultural exploitation
Construction work
Fishing industries
Manufacturing
Forced criminality
Child exploitation
Organ removal
Forced marriage

The defining feature is not the type of work itself but the combination of recruitment, coercion, deception or abuse that removes a person’s freedom to leave.

Over the past decade, however, investigators began identifying another rapidly growing form of exploitation.

Thousands of people from dozens of countries were disappearing after accepting apparently legitimate job offers overseas. Many believed they had secured work in customer service, marketing, technology or online sales.

Instead, passports were confiscated.

Movement was restricted.

Violence became commonplace.

Victims were forced to spend long hours carrying out sophisticated online investment scams, romance fraud, cryptocurrency fraud and impersonation scams targeting people across Europe, North America, Australia and Asia.

These operations became known internationally as scam compounds.

What initially appeared to be isolated criminal enterprises has since developed into one of the fastest-growing forms of forced criminality documented by international organisations.

What Is Happening?

The UNODC’s latest report paints a picture of criminal adaptation on an unprecedented scale.

Many of today’s largest scam compounds originated in areas where governance was weak, law enforcement capacity was limited and corruption allowed criminal organisations to establish heavily protected operational bases.

Myanmar, Cambodia and parts of Laos became particularly significant.

Initially, investigators believed these operations were largely regional. However, intelligence gathered over recent years suggests something much larger has emerged.

Rather than remaining confined to Southeast Asia, the criminal model itself has spread internationally.

According to the UN, organised crime groups are now establishing similar operations in parts of Africa, South America, the Middle East and the Pacific. Existing syndicates are also partnering with criminal organisations in other regions, transferring expertise, technology and financial infrastructure.

Instead of relying on a single criminal market, these organisations increasingly operate diversified portfolios.

Income may come simultaneously from:

Human trafficking
Cryptocurrency investment fraud
Romance scams
Illegal online gambling
Money laundering
Identity theft
Payment fraud
Counterfeit financial services
Data brokerage
AI-generated deception

This diversification makes the organisations substantially more resilient.

If authorities disrupt one revenue stream, others continue generating income.

The UN estimates that online scam operations generated tens of billions of dollars annually, with some independent estimates placing global losses well above US$100 billion each year.

Behind those financial figures lies a less visible reality.

Many of the people conducting these scams are themselves victims of trafficking.

Human Trafficking Hidden Behind the Screen

The image many people have of online fraud is simple.

A criminal sends fraudulent messages.

A victim loses money.

The scammer profits.

The reality inside many scam compounds is considerably more complex.

Investigations by UNODC, the International Organization for Migration, INTERPOL and numerous journalists have documented repeated patterns of deception.

Recruiters advertise legitimate employment opportunities overseas, frequently promising high salaries, accommodation and visa support.

Applicants may travel voluntarily, believing they are accepting genuine work.

Only after arrival do they discover that the advertised job does not exist.

Their passports are confiscated.

Their movement is controlled.

Communication with family members becomes restricted.

Victims who refuse to participate may experience physical violence, prolonged confinement, food deprivation or threats against relatives.

Others are reportedly sold between criminal compounds much like commodities.

This model illustrates an important legal distinction.

Although the victims may later participate in fraudulent activities, international law increasingly recognises that many have been compelled to do so under coercion.

They are therefore victims of trafficking rather than willing members of organised crime.

Understanding this distinction is essential for law enforcement.

Treating trafficked individuals purely as criminals risks punishing victims while leaving those directing the operations untouched.

Artificial Intelligence Is Accelerating Criminal Adaptation

The emergence of artificial intelligence has introduced another layer of complexity.

The UN report does not argue that AI created these trafficking networks. Rather, it concludes that criminal organisations are rapidly adopting AI tools to increase efficiency, reduce costs and make fraud more convincing.

Voice cloning technology can imitate family members during emergency scams.

Generative AI produces persuasive messages in multiple languages.

Image generation tools create convincing fake identities.

Translation systems allow fraudsters to target victims across linguistic barriers.

Some cyber-security researchers have also documented AI-assisted phishing campaigns capable of generating personalised fraudulent communications at unprecedented scale.

For organised crime, the value of these technologies lies in automation.

Tasks that once required large teams of skilled operators can increasingly be performed by smaller groups supported by AI systems.

Ironically, however, this automation does not necessarily reduce the demand for trafficked labour.

Many scam compounds continue requiring large workforces to build relationships with victims, monitor conversations, adapt strategies and manage thousands of simultaneous fraudulent interactions.

Instead of replacing trafficked workers, artificial intelligence may simply make each forced operator capable of targeting far more victims than before.

That possibility raises profound questions for governments, technology companies and financial institutions alike.

Cryptocurrency and the Financial Infrastructure Behind Modern Trafficking

If artificial intelligence is increasing the reach of organised crime, cryptocurrency is helping many criminal networks move and conceal their profits across borders.

The UNODC report does not suggest that cryptocurrencies are inherently criminal. Like any financial technology, they have many legitimate uses. However, decentralised digital assets have become attractive to organised crime because they can facilitate rapid international transfers, operate across jurisdictions and, in some cases, obscure the movement of illicit funds.

For investigators, tracing these financial flows has become significantly more complex than following traditional banking transactions.

Scam operations frequently persuade victims to invest through fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms that appear legitimate. Victims may believe they are purchasing digital assets through professional investment websites, only to discover that the platforms are entirely controlled by criminal groups.

Money rarely remains in one location for long.

Funds may pass through multiple digital wallets, cross several blockchain networks, enter decentralised finance platforms, or be converted into different assets before reaching organised crime groups. Investigators often describe this process as layering, where repeated transfers are intended to make identifying the original source of the funds increasingly difficult.

According to the UN, many of the criminal syndicates operating scam compounds have developed sophisticated financial infrastructures capable of processing enormous sums across multiple jurisdictions. These systems increasingly resemble those of multinational businesses, complete with specialist money launderers, technical experts, recruiters and logistics coordinators.

Human trafficking, therefore, is no longer simply supplying labour. It has become an operational requirement within an increasingly digital criminal economy.

The Expansion Beyond Southeast Asia

One of the report’s most significant findings concerns geography.

For several years, international attention has focused largely on Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. These countries remain central to many scam compound investigations. However, the UN warns that the underlying criminal model is now spreading well beyond Southeast Asia.

Rather than relocating entirely, criminal organisations are establishing satellite operations, forming partnerships with existing criminal groups and exporting expertise to regions where governance challenges or corruption create opportunities.

Investigators have identified growing activity in parts of:

Africa
Latin America
The Middle East
Pacific Island nations
Eastern Europe

In some regions, organised crime groups appear to be replicating the same business model almost exactly. Recruitment advertisements promise attractive salaries abroad. Workers travel voluntarily before finding themselves trapped inside secure compounds under coercive conditions.

Elsewhere, criminal organisations are adapting the approach to local circumstances, combining online fraud with existing illicit markets such as illegal mining, wildlife trafficking, narcotics, weapons smuggling or migrant exploitation.

This flexibility is one reason international agencies increasingly describe organised crime as an ecosystem rather than a collection of separate criminal enterprises.

Each activity strengthens another.

Human trafficking provides labour.

Cybercrime generates revenue.

Cryptocurrency facilitates payments.

Corruption reduces enforcement.

Money laundering legitimises profits.

Technology scales operations.

Together, they form an integrated criminal economy that is considerably harder to dismantle than any single enterprise operating in isolation.

Who Is Most at Risk?

Human trafficking does not affect all populations equally.

The UN, IOM and other international organisations consistently identify vulnerability as the product of structural circumstances rather than personal choices.

People may become vulnerable because they face limited economic opportunities, conflict, displacement or discrimination. Criminal groups actively seek out these vulnerabilities, tailoring recruitment strategies to individuals’ circumstances.

Among those most frequently identified in international research are:

People seeking overseas employment

Many victims of scam compounds accepted what appeared to be legitimate jobs in technology, customer support or sales. Recruitment advertisements often looked professional and included contracts, interviews and relocation assistance.

Migrants

Individuals moving across borders frequently face unfamiliar legal systems, language barriers and limited access to official information. These factors can increase dependence on recruiters whose intentions may be fraudulent.

People displaced by conflict

Wars and humanitarian crises create conditions in which employment opportunities become scarce while urgent financial pressures increase. Organised crime has repeatedly exploited these circumstances.

Young adults

Many recruitment campaigns specifically target younger people with digital skills, multilingual abilities or previous customer service experience. University graduates have been identified among victims alongside experienced professionals.

People facing financial insecurity

Periods of economic instability often increase the appeal of overseas employment opportunities that promise significantly higher incomes.

Importantly, international organisations caution against simplistic portrayals of trafficking victims.

Victims are not defined by weakness.

Many demonstrate remarkable resilience, adaptability and determination both during exploitation and after escaping it. Understanding trafficking requires recognising the systems that create vulnerability rather than assigning responsibility to those who become trapped within them.

Forced Criminality: A Growing Recognition

One of the most important developments in international anti-trafficking policy has been growing recognition of forced criminality.

Historically, someone arrested while participating in fraud might simply have been prosecuted.

Today, investigators increasingly recognise that many individuals involved in online scams may themselves have been trafficked.

Forced criminality occurs when people are compelled through violence, threats, coercion or deception to commit offences on behalf of organised crime.

Examples include:

Operating online fraud schemes.
Transporting illegal goods.
Cultivating illicit crops.
Shoplifting for organised groups.
Financial fraud.
Drug distribution.

International law increasingly encourages authorities to identify indicators of trafficking before treating individuals solely as offenders.

This distinction matters for both justice and prevention.

If trafficked individuals fear arrest or deportation after escaping criminal compounds, they may be far less likely to seek help.

Conversely, recognising victims appropriately can provide investigators with valuable evidence against those directing the criminal enterprises.

The challenge lies in balancing accountability with protection.

Not everyone involved in organised crime has been trafficked.

However, assuming guilt without investigating possible coercion risks allowing trafficking networks to continue operating behind those they exploit.

The Systems Behind the Harm

It is tempting to view trafficking as the work of exceptionally cruel individuals.

Individual perpetrators undoubtedly bear responsibility for serious crimes. Yet focusing exclusively on those individuals can obscure the wider systems that allow exploitation to flourish.

The UN report highlights several structural factors.

Weak governance

Criminal organisations frequently establish operations where institutions lack resources or where corruption undermines enforcement. Limited oversight creates opportunities to operate large facilities with relatively little interference.

Corruption

Officials who facilitate fraudulent documentation, overlook suspicious activities or actively cooperate with organised crime reduce the risks faced by traffickers. Corruption also discourages victims from seeking assistance.

Fragmented international enforcement

Cybercrime, financial crime, immigration enforcement and human trafficking investigations often remain institutionally separate. Criminal organisations exploit these divisions by operating across jurisdictions.

Digital infrastructure

Encrypted messaging platforms, cloud computing, online advertising and anonymous communications have all reduced barriers to international criminal coordination.

Most of these technologies are legitimate and essential to modern life. However, organised crime increasingly uses the same tools as businesses and consumers.

Financial innovation

Cryptocurrency, online payment systems and cross-border financial services have created enormous legitimate economic benefits.

At the same time, they have introduced new challenges for investigators attempting to identify illicit financial flows moving rapidly across multiple jurisdictions.

Labour inequality

Persistent differences in income between countries continue to encourage labour migration.

Criminal recruiters exploit this reality by presenting fraudulent opportunities that appear entirely plausible.

Viewed together, these systems explain why tackling trafficking requires far more than arresting individual offenders.

It requires coordinated action across financial regulation, technology governance, migration policy, labour protection, anti-corruption efforts and international criminal justice.

The Human Impact

Statistics alone cannot capture the consequences of trafficking.

Each number represents a person whose freedom has been systematically removed.

Survivors of scam compounds have described prolonged psychological pressure alongside physical abuse. Many report working extraordinarily long hours under constant surveillance while being required to deceive strangers online.

Some have spoken of punishment for failing to meet financial targets.

Others describe witnessing violence against colleagues or learning that individuals were sold between compounds after attempting escape.

The psychological consequences often continue long after rescue.

Researchers studying trafficking survivors have documented elevated risks of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and social isolation. Returning home may also bring financial hardship, stigma or uncertainty about future employment.

Families experience consequences as well.

Many relatives spend months believing loved ones are safely employed abroad, only discovering the truth after contact suddenly disappears or emergency requests for money begin arriving.

Communities also bear wider costs.

Every successful online scam damages public trust, increases financial losses and creates additional victims who may never realise that the individual deceiving them was also acting under coercion.

Understanding these overlapping harms is essential.

The people losing life savings through sophisticated fraud deserve protection.

So too do those forced to carry out those crimes against their will.

Both are casualties of the same criminal system.

What Governments and International Institutions Are Doing

As organised crime becomes more technologically sophisticated, governments and international organisations are attempting to adapt their responses. The challenge is considerable. Criminal groups move people, money and digital infrastructure across borders with relative ease, while law enforcement agencies often remain constrained by national jurisdictions, differing legal systems and varying investigative powers.

In response, international cooperation has become increasingly central to anti-trafficking efforts.

The United Nations

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has taken a leading role in documenting the evolution of scam compounds and the criminal ecosystems surrounding them. Through research, technical assistance and intelligence sharing, UNODC supports governments in strengthening anti-trafficking legislation, improving criminal investigations and developing cross-border cooperation.

The organisation’s latest report is not simply a warning about Southeast Asia. It is intended as an early alert that the criminal model is becoming global. By identifying emerging trends before they become firmly established elsewhere, the UN hopes governments can act proactively rather than reactively.

INTERPOL

INTERPOL has expanded intelligence-sharing operations targeting human trafficking, cybercrime and financial crime. Increasingly, investigations involve multiple member countries simultaneously because victims, perpetrators, digital infrastructure and financial transactions often span several continents.

Joint operations have led to the identification of trafficking victims, arrests of organised crime figures and the disruption of criminal networks operating across borders.

Europol

Within Europe, Europol has strengthened cooperation between national police forces investigating online fraud, trafficking and organised crime. Recent multinational operations have demonstrated that coordinated intelligence can dismantle large criminal organisations more effectively than isolated national investigations.

One of the largest recent operations, involving dozens of countries, resulted in over a thousand arrests and the identification of more than two thousand suspected trafficking victims. Although such operations demonstrate growing international cooperation, they also reveal the extraordinary scale of the problem.

Financial Regulators

Financial intelligence units are paying increasing attention to cryptocurrency transactions linked to organised crime.

Many jurisdictions have introduced stronger anti-money laundering requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and digital asset providers. Investigators are also making greater use of blockchain analysis tools capable of tracing transactions across public ledgers.

However, criminals continue adapting. As regulatory oversight increases in one jurisdiction, operations often shift elsewhere or adopt new laundering techniques.

Technology Companies

Technology companies are also under increasing pressure.

Artificial intelligence developers, social media platforms, encrypted messaging providers and financial technology companies are all being asked to strengthen safeguards against criminal misuse.

This includes detecting fraudulent advertising, removing fake investment platforms, identifying AI-generated impersonation and improving reporting mechanisms for suspected trafficking.

Many companies have introduced new measures. Nevertheless, critics argue that technological innovation continues to outpace regulation, leaving enforcement agencies in a largely reactive position.

Why Enforcement Alone Will Not Solve the Problem

The instinctive response to organised crime is often to call for tougher policing and harsher penalties. Effective law enforcement remains essential. Without it, organised criminal groups operate with increasing confidence.

Yet decades of anti-trafficking research suggest enforcement alone cannot eliminate exploitation.

Trafficking networks thrive because they exploit broader social and economic conditions.

People continue accepting fraudulent job offers because legitimate opportunities remain scarce.

Families continue borrowing money for migration because safer alternatives are unavailable.

Workers continue taking risks because wages at home may not support basic needs.

Conflict continues displacing millions of people.

Climate change continues affecting livelihoods.

Corruption continues undermining public institutions.

Digital technologies continue expanding faster than regulatory systems can adapt.

These structural conditions create a continuous supply of people seeking opportunity, security or survival.

Organised crime does not create these vulnerabilities.

It exploits them.

That distinction is important because it changes how prevention is understood.

Stopping trafficking requires more than intercepting criminals after exploitation has already occurred. It also requires reducing the conditions that allow criminal recruitment to succeed in the first place.

What Still Needs to Change

The UNODC report identifies several areas where international responses remain incomplete.

Better International Coordination

Human trafficking, cybercrime, financial crime and organised crime investigations are frequently handled by different agencies with different priorities.

Improving information sharing between these sectors remains one of the largest opportunities for disrupting integrated criminal networks.

Greater Protection for Victims of Forced Criminality

Individuals trafficked into scam compounds often fear prosecution if they escape.

Developing consistent legal protections for victims forced to commit crimes under coercion remains an important challenge.

Without those protections, many survivors may never seek assistance.

Stronger Oversight of Recruitment Practices

Many trafficking cases begin with apparently legitimate employment advertisements.

Governments can reduce risk through stronger regulation of international recruitment agencies, improved verification systems and greater public awareness of fraudulent job offers.

Increased Financial Transparency

As organised crime increasingly depends on complex financial systems, strengthening anti-money laundering measures remains critical.

This includes international cooperation between regulators, banks, cryptocurrency exchanges and financial intelligence agencies.

Responsible Technology Development

Artificial intelligence itself is not responsible for trafficking.

However, developers, platform operators and policymakers all have roles in reducing opportunities for criminal misuse.

This requires balancing innovation with safeguards that make technologies more resistant to exploitation.

Survivor-Centred Recovery

Rescue represents only the beginning of recovery.

Survivors often require long-term access to healthcare, psychological support, legal assistance, education and employment opportunities.

Without sustained support, the risk of re-trafficking can remain high.

What Not For Sale’s Perspective Adds

The latest UN findings reinforce something that organisations working on the front lines have recognised for many years.

Human trafficking cannot be understood as a single crime with a single solution.

It exists at the intersection of poverty, corruption, displacement, conflict, weak governance, technological change and organised criminal markets.

Addressing only one part of that system leaves others intact.

Not For Sale’s work has consistently focused on preventing exploitation before it occurs while supporting approaches that strengthen communities, expand economic opportunity and reduce vulnerability to trafficking.

That perspective reflects an important principle emerging from international research.

Prevention is often more effective, less costly and more sustainable than responding after exploitation has already taken place.

Equally important is recognising the dignity and agency of survivors.

People who have experienced trafficking should not be viewed solely through the lens of victimhood. Many become advocates, entrepreneurs, researchers and community leaders whose experiences contribute directly to improving future prevention efforts.

As organised crime evolves, survivor knowledge becomes an increasingly valuable source of practical insight.

What Readers Can Do

Human trafficking often feels like an overwhelming global issue. Yet individuals, businesses and communities all have opportunities to reduce vulnerability and support prevention.

Readers can:

Learn how modern trafficking operates, including newer forms such as forced criminality and scam compounds.
Verify overseas employment opportunities before accepting job offers or encouraging others to travel.
Be cautious of unsolicited investment schemes, cryptocurrency opportunities and online relationships requesting financial transfers.
Support organisations that prioritise survivor-centred recovery and long-term prevention.
Ask questions about labour conditions and supply chains when purchasing goods or services.
Share verified information from credible organisations rather than unconfirmed stories circulating on social media.
Encourage policymakers and businesses to strengthen transparency, worker protections and anti-trafficking safeguards.

Although no single action can eliminate organised crime, informed communities are considerably more difficult for traffickers to exploit.

The United Nations’ latest assessment marks an important moment in the global understanding of human trafficking.

It shows that organised crime is changing faster than many public institutions designed to combat it.

Trafficking is no longer confined to hidden brothels, isolated factories or informal labour markets. Increasingly, it is embedded within sophisticated digital economies that combine artificial intelligence, cyber fraud, cryptocurrency and transnational financial networks.

This evolution challenges long-held assumptions about both victims and perpetrators. Many people forced to carry out online scams are themselves survivors of trafficking. Meanwhile, the technologies transforming legitimate business are also reshaping organised crime.

The report also carries a broader warning.

If governments continue addressing cybercrime, financial crime, corruption and human trafficking as separate issues, organised criminal groups will continue exploiting the gaps between them.

Responding effectively requires more than stronger enforcement.

It demands international cooperation, responsible technological innovation, survivor-centred protection and sustained investment in prevention.

Ultimately, the story is not simply about the evolution of organised crime.

It is about whether global institutions can evolve quickly enough to meet it.

For millions of people vulnerable to exploitation, that question has consequences far beyond today’s headlines.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are human trafficking-fuelled scam compounds?

Human trafficking-fuelled scam compounds are criminal operations where people are recruited through deceptive job offers, transported to controlled locations and forced to conduct online fraud. Traffickers may confiscate passports, restrict movement and use threats, debt or violence to prevent workers from leaving. The compounds commonly run investment, cryptocurrency, romance and impersonation scams against people in other countries.

How are scam compounds connected to human trafficking?

The connection lies in the way workers are recruited and controlled. Many people accept what appear to be legitimate jobs in areas such as sales, technology or customer service. After travelling, they may be confined and compelled to commit fraud under threat. This can meet the legal definition of human trafficking because deception or coercion is used for the purpose of exploitation.

However, not everyone working in a scam centre has necessarily been trafficked. Authorities must assess each person’s circumstances rather than automatically treating every worker as either a victim or a willing offender.

What is forced criminality?

Forced criminality occurs when traffickers compel a person to commit crimes for someone else’s benefit. In scam compounds, this may include operating fraudulent investment platforms, sending deceptive messages, stealing personal information or persuading people to transfer money.

The person carrying out the crime may therefore also be a trafficking victim. Recognising coercion is essential because survivors can otherwise be prosecuted, detained or deported without their exploitation being properly investigated.

Why are scam compounds spreading beyond Southeast Asia?

Criminal groups have found that the scam-compound model can generate substantial profits while operating across borders. They can recruit workers in one country, base operations in another, target fraud victims elsewhere and move proceeds through international financial systems.

INTERPOL has reported that people from more than 60 countries have been trafficked into scam-centre operations. It has also identified signs that the model is expanding beyond Southeast Asia, including into West Africa and other regions where criminal groups can exploit limited enforcement, corruption or regulatory gaps.

How is artificial intelligence being used by trafficking and scam networks?

Artificial intelligence can help criminal groups create convincing messages, false identities, synthetic images and translated content at scale. Voice-cloning and image-generation tools can also support impersonation fraud, while automated systems allow scammers to contact more potential targets.

AI did not create the scam-compound industry. However, it can make criminal operations faster, cheaper and more persuasive. The UNODC’s 2026 assessment describes technology, virtual assets and specialised criminal services as increasingly integrated parts of Southeast Asia’s wider organised-crime economy.

How is cryptocurrency linked to scam compounds?

Many scam compounds operate fraudulent cryptocurrency or investment schemes. A target may be directed to a professional-looking platform that appears to show successful investments. In reality, the website and displayed returns may be controlled by the criminal organisation.

Virtual assets can also be moved through multiple wallets, services and jurisdictions. This does not make cryptocurrency inherently criminal, but it can complicate investigations and enable organised groups to transfer or launder proceeds rapidly. UNODC and INTERPOL have both identified virtual assets as an important part of contemporary fraud and organised-crime networks.

Who is most at risk of being trafficked into a scam compound?

There is no single profile. Victims have included graduates, multilingual professionals, technology workers, customer-service employees, migrants and people seeking better-paid work abroad.

Risk can increase when someone faces unemployment, debt, conflict, displacement or limited access to safe migration routes. Criminal recruiters often exploit these pressures by advertising well-paid overseas jobs, arranging travel and presenting the opportunity as legitimate.

The sophistication of recruitment means that education or professional experience does not necessarily protect someone from deception.

What are the warning signs of a fraudulent overseas job offer?

Potential warning signs include unusually high salaries for limited experience, vague job descriptions, pressure to travel quickly and requests to use unofficial visa routes. Applicants should also be cautious when recruiters communicate only through encrypted messaging services or refuse to provide a verifiable company address.

Other concerns include demands for large recruitment fees, unexplained changes to the destination, promises that a visa will be arranged after arrival and instructions to surrender a passport. No single warning sign proves trafficking, but several appearing together should prompt additional checks.

What should someone do if they suspect a relative is being held in a scam compound?

They should preserve all available evidence, including messages, job advertisements, phone numbers, travel details, payment requests and recruiter profiles. They should then contact the relevant national police, embassy or consular service and a recognised anti-trafficking organisation.

Families should avoid confronting suspected traffickers directly. They should also be cautious about paying people who claim they can arrange a rescue, as secondary scams may target relatives seeking help.

The appropriate response depends on the countries involved and the immediate level of danger.

Are people forced to operate scams criminals or trafficking victims?

They may be both involved in criminal conduct and victims of trafficking. The decisive question is whether coercion, threats, deception or abuse prevented them from refusing or leaving.

International anti-trafficking principles support the non-punishment of people compelled to commit offences as a direct consequence of their exploitation. However, authorities must investigate individual circumstances carefully. The presence of coercion should not be assumed, but neither should it be ignored.

What are governments doing about human trafficking-fuelled fraud?

Governments are conducting cross-border investigations, raiding compounds, tracing financial transactions and strengthening cooperation through organisations such as UNODC and INTERPOL. Regulators are also increasing oversight of cryptocurrency exchanges, online platforms and international recruitment practices.

However, enforcement remains uneven. Criminal networks can move their operations when one country increases pressure. Meanwhile, differences between national laws can hinder investigations involving victims, perpetrators, servers and financial accounts in several jurisdictions.

Why is human trafficking difficult to stop?

Human trafficking is sustained by more than individual criminal behaviour. It is enabled by corruption, unsafe migration routes, economic inequality, weak labour protections and fragmented international enforcement.

Digital technology also allows recruitment, exploitation and financial transactions to cross borders quickly. As a result, dismantling one compound or arresting one recruiter may not disrupt the wider system that made the operation possible.

Effective prevention must combine law enforcement with safer employment pathways, regulated recruitment, financial transparency and long-term survivor support.

How large is modern-day slavery globally?

The latest comprehensive global estimate found that approximately 50 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021. This included about 28 million people in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage.

These figures cover many forms of exploitation and should not be interpreted as an estimate of scam-compound trafficking alone. Reliable global data on the total number of people held in scam compounds remains incomplete.

What can technology companies do to prevent this exploitation?

Technology companies can strengthen systems for detecting fraudulent advertisements, impersonation, fake investment platforms and coordinated criminal activity. They can also improve reporting processes and share relevant threat information with law enforcement while respecting privacy and human rights.

AI developers can assess how their tools may be misused for voice cloning, synthetic identities and automated fraud. Financial platforms and cryptocurrency services can strengthen customer verification, transaction monitoring and responses to suspected money laundering.

No single company can eliminate the problem, but safeguards across multiple platforms can make criminal operations more difficult and expensive.

What can readers do to reduce the risk of trafficking and online fraud?

Readers can verify overseas employers independently, question offers that appear unusually generous and avoid sending money to unverified investment platforms. They can also discuss recruitment risks with relatives or community members considering work abroad.

When sharing information, readers should rely on credible sources rather than circulating graphic or unverified claims. They can also support survivor-centred organisations that provide legal assistance, safe accommodation, healthcare, education and access to sustainable employment.

Awareness is not a substitute for government action. However, better-informed communities give traffickers fewer opportunities to recruit through deception.