Online fraud is increasingly connected to human trafficking, according to a warning from the International Organization for Migration. The agency said people from more than 80 countries had been lured into scam compounds through fake job advertisements. Many victims were recruited online, had passports taken on arrival and were forced to carry out fraud under threats or physical abuse.\n\nThe IOM estimated that as many as 300,000 people may be working in scam centres across parts of Southeast Asia, while UN estimates placed annual losses from online scam operations between 8 billion and 14 billion. The numbers describe both a criminal economy and a protection crisis. Survivors may return with debt, trauma and the mistaken label of offender even when coercion forced them to commit the crimes.\n\nPrevention requires safer recruitment information, cross-border investigations and support for return and reintegration. Global Talks will focus on the people caught inside these networks, not only the money lost by those targeted by the scams.
UN agency warns scam compounds are becoming trafficking hubs
