By Esther George and the Zyber Global Research Team
As global conflict and disaster uproot millions and cut into social safety nets, traffickers are adapting by merging multiple crimes into one lucrative system. New analyses from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the anti-slavery group International Justice Mission (IJM) show that fraud, trafficking, and child exploitation are no longer separate. Instead, trafficked labourers and children are caught in a single, vicious network. UNODC’s latest report warns that “climate disasters, conflicts, and displacement…converge…and vulnerabilities are growing”, with many people driven “directly into trafficking and exploitation.” Meanwhile, international aid cuts are stripping away the frontline defences.
For example, the U.S. recently terminated 69 foreign assistance programs (cutting over $500 million in grants) aimed at preventing child labour and trafficking, and major donors are reporting “significant reductions” in aid budgets for victim protection. This double squeeze rising vulnerability and fewer resources provides fertile ground for cyber-enabled crime. The result is a new criminal ecosystem in which forced labour, online scams, and sexual extortion reinforce one another, creating unprecedented risks for children and society.
A New Criminal Ecosystem Emerging
Crimes that were once seen as distinct are now converging into an interconnected system. Victims are trafficked into “fraud factories”, where they are coerced into running cyber scams and in turn abuse children to boost profits. UNODC’s 2024 Global Trafficking Report documents a “rise in trafficking for forced criminality,” noting that organized crime groups are increasingly using victims to conduct online fraud in “a spiral of victimisation.” This means that an individual who is enslaved in a scam compound is not only victimised but also forced to perpetuate harm on others through fraud or sextortion. In other words, profit from cybercrime fuels more trafficking, which in turn fuels more abuse a self-sustaining criminal loop. Both UNODC and IJM emphasize that these are not isolated incidents, crime syndicates have structured hierarchies and global reach. As one IJM analyst warns, we may be seeing “a new frontier of organised online abuse one that involves both children and trafficking victims”
Scam Compounds: Modern Slavery at Industrial Scale
In practice, this convergence is epitomised by the scam compounds of Southeast Asia. Dozens of fortified compounds (often in border zones or special economic zones) have sprouted up in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and neighbouring countries. Young people are lured by fake job ads into these enclaves. Once inside, they are imprisoned, passports are seized, buildings are guarded by razor wire, and any attempt to resist is met with terror. Survivors describe 12-to-20-hour workdays, six days a week, with only a few hours of sleep. They are forced to run investment scams, fake gambling sites, romance scams and other schemes on phones and computers. Failure to hit often astronomical quotas brings torture. As one survivor recalled, “Workers are prohibited from leaving… They were working 12 to 20 hours a day, six days a week… If they did not meet [targets]…they face torture using electric shocks, isolation, [and] physical punishment.”
The scale is vast, UNODC data show that over 220,000 people from around the world are trapped in scam hubs across Southeast Asia. These operations are hugely profitable on par with major illicit trades. For example, UNODC’s 2025 study estimates scam compounds generate roughly $40 billion per year from online fraud and fake investments. These staggering profits are then laundered and reinvested to expand the criminal network. Investigators note that cryptocurrencies and fintech have accelerated this process apps have been created specifically to launder money at the compounds, and victims and perpetrators are spread across different countries, money is laundered offshore, and operations are global.
Far from being contained in one region, scam operations are spreading worldwide. Initially centred in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville and Chinese-linked zones like Shwe Kokko (Myanmar), scammers now operate in China, Vietnam and even as far afield as Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. UNODC and policy analysts warn that pockets of weak governance attract these syndicates. Corrupt officials often turn a blind eye or profit directly. For example, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) states that money from scam centres ends up in the pockets of corrupt bureaucrats and law enforcement officials who are essential to facilitating these operations. International experts note that tens of billions in illicit proceeds have been diverted into other crimes. Funds from scamming are known to fuel drug production, arms trafficking, sexual exploitation rings, and even militias backing Myanmar’s military junta. In effect, the fraud is underwriting corruption and violence far beyond the scam compounds themselves.
A Dark New Layer: Child Sextortion
Perhaps the most chilling development is how this system is now ensnaring children. Financially driven sextortion where criminals blackmail children with intimate images is exploding, and IJM’s new research provides evidence that many such schemes originate inside the scam compounds. By cross-referencing 1.18 million CyberTipline reports (from 2022–2024) against the internet infrastructure of known scam hubs, IJM analysts found 18,017 reports of online enticement (including sextortion) that shared IP addresses with the scam compounds. Of these, 493 were likely linked to forced labour locations by timing and advertiser IDs. In other words, hundreds of extortion cases on children in which kids were duped into giving up sexual images and then blackmailed appear to have been run by trafficked workers. These cases are concentrated at least at 40 known scam-centre sites (the study names hotspots like Sihanoukville and Bavet in Cambodia, and Shwe Kokko and Tachileik in Myanmar).
IJM warns that these findings are likely “just the tip of the iceberg”. Shared networks, common devices, and under-reporting mean the true scale is probably far higher. But the evidence clearly shows one fact that the fraud factories have quietly added child exploitation to their portfolio. Victims trafficked into these labs of deceit are unknowingly turned into perpetrators of online child abuse.
What Needs to Happen
Tackling this multifaceted crisis requires an equally multi-pronged, coordinated response:
- Data-driven disruption: By cross-matching IP infrastructure, digital advertising IDs, and platform reports, governments and technology companies can flag suspicious clusters and expose high-risk trafficking hubs. Stronger CyberTipline sharing and analytic partnerships are vital to shutting down sextortion mills.
- Financial crackdowns: Cut off the profits. Law enforcement must scale up intelligence sharing and asset recovery, tracking cryptocurrencies and underground banking that fuel scam networks. These syndicates generate tens of billions of dollars annually, often funding arms, drugs, and armed groups. Coordinated sanctions and aggressive anti–money laundering operations can choke off the lifeblood of such crimes.
- Victim-centred protection: Many so-called “cybercriminals” are in fact trafficking victims. Authorities must distinguish coerced individuals from offenders, prioritising rescues over arrests. Survivors need safe return, trauma care, and legal protection. While platforms should treat flagged accounts as red flags for trafficking, not proof of crime.
- Global cooperation: Cyber trafficking syndicates cross borders, and no country can fight them alone. Stronger cross-border police cooperation, extradition treaties, and joint task forces are essential. UNODC and IJM stress that governments, tech companies, and international bodies must act together otherwise networks will simply shift to new havens.
Conclusion: A Crisis Deepened by Global Instability
The convergence of cyberfraud, trafficking, and child sexual exploitation has become a hidden global crisis, worsened by conflict and displacement. Millions of people uprooted by war or disaster now lack protection, making them vulnerable to traffickers and scam recruiters. At the same time, cuts to human rights and anti-slavery aid have stripped away critical protections.
If unchecked, these crime networks will entrench themselves in conflict zones, corrupt institutions and migration routes. UNODC and IJM warn the clock is ticking, leaders must act decisively, investing in victims and intelligence-sharing, or risk letting instability give criminals free rein. What’s at stake is not just billions in illicit profits and vast human suffering, but a profound moral reckoning. The world now faces a choice act decisively uniting governments, companies, and communities to protect victims and disrupt these crimes or stand by as exploitation becomes woven into the fabric of global crises.
Sources:
The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024 (UNODC) - https://www.law.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/women-and-justice/GLOTIP2024-compressed.pdf
Governments are cutting human rights funding and putting millions at risk of modern slavery https://www.walkfree.org/news/2025/governments-are-cutting-human-rights-funding-and-putting-millions-at-risk-of-modern-slavery/
IJM Uncovers Links Between Child Sextortion and Southeast Asia’s Scam Compounds - https://www.ijm.org/news/ijm-uncovers-links-between-child-sextortion-southeast-asias-scam-compounds#
The people targeting you with cyberscams may themselves be victims of slavery - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/24/the-people-targeting-you-with-cyberscams-may-themselves-be-victims-of-slavery
Philippines appeals for help to rescue nationals trapped in scam hubs - https://www.arabnews.com/node/2608280/amp
Transnational Crime in Southeast Asia: A Growing Threat to Global Peace and Security - https://www.usip.org/publications/2024/05/transnational-crime-southeast-asia-growing-threat-global-peace-and-security#
The business of exploitation: The economics of cyber scam operations in Southeast Asia - https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/cyber-scam-operations-southeast-asia/
Cyber Scamming Goes Global: Unveiling Southeast Asia’s High-Tech Fraud Factories - https://www.csis.org/analysis/cyber-scamming-goes-global-unveiling-southeast-asias-high-tech-fraud-factories#
Examining a Nexus, Financial Sextortion of Children and Forced Scamming - https://www.ijm.org/nexus-financial-sextortion-children-forced-scamming
Cyberfraud in the Mekong reaches inflection point, UNODC reveals - https://www.unodc.org/roseap/en/2025/04/cyberfraud-inflection-point-mekong/story.html
Abused, exploited: How two Africans became trapped in a cyber-scam in Laos - https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/5/30/each-person-had-10-phones-trapped-in-a-cyber-scam-centre-in-laos#