UN report details 'staggering' torture, abuse in global scam trafficking networks
The UN human rights office says the victims are lured by false job offers and end up facing coercion, violence and extortion across multiple regions.
A new report by the UN human rights office published on Friday documented widespread torture, sexual abuse and forced labour suffered by people trafficked into large-scale scam operations, primarily in Southeast Asia but increasingly worldwide.
"The litany of abuse is staggering and at the same time heart-breaking," UN Human Rights high commissioner Volker Turk said, calling on governments to act against corruption that was "deeply entrenched in such lucrative scamming operations, and to prosecute the criminal syndicates behind them".
Based on interviews with survivors from numerous countries trafficked between 2021 and 2025, the report described victims deceived by fake job offers and then forced to carry out online fraud schemes under violent conditions. Abuses included food deprivation, forced abortions, solitary confinement, and severe beatings.
Satellite imagery and field reports indicated that nearly three-quarters of these operations are concentrated in the Mekong region, though networks have expanded to Pacific Island states, South Asia, Gulf countries, West Africa and the Americas.
"The treatment endured by individuals within the context of scam operations is alarming," the report said.
Survivors described being held in heavily guarded compounds resembling self-contained towns. Failure to meet scam quotas often resulted in punishment. One Sri Lankan victim said workers who missed targets were immersed for hours in water containers known as "water prisons."
Victims also reported extortion tactics targeting families, including video calls showing abuse to pressure relatives into paying ransoms.
"Rather than receiving protection, care and rehabilitation … victims too often face disbelief, stigmatisation and even further punishment," Turk said.
The rights chief called for rights-based anti-trafficking measures, safe migration pathways, and stronger action against corruption enabling the criminal networks.
"There must be increased availability and accessibility of safe labour migration pathways and meaningful oversight of recruitment such as verification of online job postings and flagging suspicious recruitment patterns," he said.