UN warns of increasing trafficking via online job adverts

Trafficking networks are increasingly using fake vacancies online to lure thousands of people into forced labour, the UN International Organization for Migration has warned.

In an alert issued on Tuesday, the agency expressed concern over the expanding, multibillion-dollar criminal industry that turns job seekers into cybercriminals.

IOM Director General, Amy Pope, noted that victims from more than 80 countries are being trafficked into the scam centres, particularly across Asia.

The official told journalists in Geneva that syndicates target people who speak good English and often hold degrees, advertising what resemble normal jobs on social media.

The victims are locked inside compounds, stripped of their passports and phones, and monitored. Many are beaten or threatened and compelled to run global fraudulent schemes.

“They’re often subjected to physical or mental abuse. They are often unable to leave,” Pope added, saying most sufferers travel on a tourist visa rather than a work permit.

Between 2022 and 2025, the IOM helped over 3,500 victims of forced criminality in Southeast Asia. They hailed from 39 nations, including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 2025 losses from scams across East and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand were between $88.3 billion and $114.1 billion.

Last week, the United States implemented a visa ban targeting sextortionists and cyber scammers. Washington cited Southeast Asia scam operations, which cost Americans $10 billion in 2024.