Online scam centres linked to criminal networks in East and Southeast Asia are no longer confined to that region. INTERPOL reported in March 2025 that people from 66 countries had been trafficked into scam centres, and that its analysis found no continent untouched. The expansion has two human costs: people coerced into committing fraud, and people around the world targeted by it.
What does “industrial-scale” mean here?
INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza described the pattern as “the industrialization of fraud,” enabled by artificial intelligence, low-cost digital tools and greater global criminal collaboration. The phrase points to the scale and organization of the activity; it does not mean every scam centre operates in the same way or uses the same technology.
The evidence shows geographic spread, but not a complete global count of centres or victims. INTERPOL’s figures come from its notices and diffusions, while the large estimates from the United Nations cover Southeast Asia. They should not be treated as a census of the worldwide operation.
Where are scam-centre victims being taken?
In March 2025, INTERPOL said it had identified victims from 66 countries trafficked into online scam centres. In its analysis of relevant notices over five years, 74% of identified trafficking victims had been brought to centres in Southeast Asia. INTERPOL also reported that centres were increasingly observed in the Middle East, West Africa and Central America.
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How do scam centres recruit and coerce workers?
United Nations and INTERPOL accounts describe a pattern that can begin with deceptive job advertisements and false promises of legitimate employment. Some people who accept these offers are taken to scam centres, confined and coerced into carrying out online fraud. This is forced criminality: a person may be made to commit crimes under coercion rather than choosing to participate freely.
Not everyone who commits fraud at a scam centre is trafficked, INTERPOL cautions. Nor does everyone found at a facility necessarily have the same role or experience. A careful account distinguishes people who are coerced from others involved in the operation rather than treating all workers as either willing criminals or trafficking victims.
Documented abuse of people held against their will includes debt bondage, beatings, sexual exploitation, torture and rape. These harms are reported in accounts of the pattern; they should not be taken to mean that conditions are identical in every facility.
What is the scale of the activity?
Estimates point to a large regional problem, but measure different things and should be kept separate.
- People forced to conduct cybercrime: A July 2026 European Commission summary reported a United Nations estimate of more than 300,000 people in Southeast Asia currently forced to conduct cybercrime, including scams. The summary does not identify the reference date of the underlying estimate.
- Illicit profits from cyber scams: The same European Commission summary reported UNODC estimates of $18 billion to $37 billion in illicit profits generated by cyber scams in Southeast Asia in 2023. This is a regional estimate of criminal profits, not a measure of losses to any one country or of money lost by individual victims.
- Philippine liberation tally: UN Philippines reported in 2026 that the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) had tallied 5,949 people liberated, including 3,483 foreigners. This is an enforcement tally in the Philippines, not a global estimate.
- Fraud-related notices: INTERPOL reported a 54% increase since 2024 in fraud-related INTERPOL Notices and Diffusions. That figure concerns notices and diffusions, not a measured increase in the number of centres or all fraud incidents.
How do digital tools and AI fit in?
INTERPOL has observed AI being used in fake job advertisements and to generate online photos or profiles for romance and sextortion schemes. These are documented uses, not evidence that every centre uses AI or that every scam relies on it. The broader pattern described by INTERPOL also includes low-cost digital tools and collaboration between criminal groups.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does this mean for people targeted by fraud?
Scam-centre fraud can reach people far from the place where a worker is being held. The reported use of online profiles in romance and sextortion schemes illustrates how fraud can be conducted across borders, while the trafficking evidence shows that some people carrying it out may themselves be coerced. The available figures do not quantify individual financial losses or identify the share of global fraud attributable to scam centres.
False promises of legitimate employment are also a warning sign for job seekers. A job offer that turns into confinement and coerced criminal activity is not ordinary workplace misconduct; it may be part of trafficking and forced criminality. INTERPOL’s distinction matters: assess a person’s role and circumstances rather than assuming that everyone involved in a scam centre is acting voluntarily.
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INTERPOL describes cross-border cooperation, efforts to trace financial flows and work to identify leaders who may be obscured by intermediaries and shell companies. Those approaches address both the international movement of people and the money and organizational structures supporting fraud.
In the Philippines, UNODC-supported procedures cover repatriation, witness statements, evidence collection, custody of alleged perpetrators and asset recovery, with a victim-centred approach. The aim is to identify and protect people forced to commit crimes while also gathering evidence and pursuing those responsible.
As Ilias Chatzis, Acting Chief of the Organized Crime Branch at UNODC, put it: “We must strengthen international cooperation and ensure that victims are identified and protected rather than punished for crimes they were forced to commit.” The cited responses describe practical areas of cooperation; the available evidence does not establish a controlled ranking of their effectiveness.
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