Forced to scam: Inside one of the fastest-growing forms of human trafficking
Human trafficking for forced criminality occurs when people are exploited and made to commit crimes for the benefit of traffickers, often through deception, threats or coercion. Beyond scams, victims may be forced into a range of illegal activities, including theft, drug trafficking, financial fraud and online scams - an increasingly common and rapidly growing form of this crime. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that scams targeting victims in East and Southeast Asia resulted in US $18 to US $37 billion in financial losses in 2023 alone, highlighting the scale and profitability of this rapidly growing form of the crime. But human trafficking into scam centres is no longer confined to one region. By late 2025, victims identified came from nearly 80 nationalities, and while Southeast Asia remains a major hub, the model is increasingly spreading to the Middle East, Africa, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, South Asia the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.
