A new report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warns that a massive online scam industry in Southeast Asia is being fueled by trafficked workers who are tortured, sexually abused and forced to commit fraud. The scams, worth an estimated tens of billions of dollars each year, operate from heavily guarded compounds where people from at least 66 countries are being held. Many victims were recruited with promises of regular jobs, only to be detained and beaten once they arrived.
The report, titled “A wicked problem”, describes a “litany of abuse” affecting hundreds of thousands of people. It estimates that around 300,000 individuals are working in scam centres, most of them in the Mekong region. Survivors spoke of large, walled compounds with armed guards, casinos, brothels and offices where they were forced to run romance scams, crypto schemes and impersonation fraud. Passports were seized, communication was tightly controlled and attempts to escape were met with harsh punishment.
Victims recounted torture used to enforce scam quotas, including beatings, “water prisons” and confinement in dark rooms. Sexual violence has reportedly increased since 2024, with women describing rape, forced prostitution and forced abortions, and men reporting sexual humiliation and assault. Many also faced extreme working hours, food deprivation and deaths inside the compounds.
The report highlights how wage theft, bogus “debts” and ransom demands keep victims trapped. Some families were shown videos of their relatives being abused to pressure them into paying large sums. OHCHR also points to widespread corruption, including alleged collusion between criminal networks and officials who facilitate border crossings or ignore abuses.
OHCHR urges governments to stop prosecuting trafficked victims for crimes they were forced to commit, ensure safe rescue and provide trauma‑informed rehabilitation. It calls for safer labour migration routes, stronger oversight of recruiters, crackdowns on official collusion and closer cooperation with digital platforms and financial institutions to disrupt online recruitment and money flows.
