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Human trafficking networks use fake job advertisements to lure skilled young workers into online scam centers. An estimated 300,000 people have been trapped in Southeast Asia, and the threat is spreading to Africa. Experts call for coordinated government response and better protection for victims.
Cambodia claims there are no longer any online scam centers in the country, but rights groups and experts express doubt, noting that large-scale operations may persist. Authorities report raiding hundreds of sites and detaining thousands of suspects amid ongoing concerns about unverified progress.
The North Korea-linked hacker group Kimsuky has been using AI to generate fake documents in spear-phishing attacks against military, diplomatic, and academic targets, according to a report by South Korean cybersecurity firm Genians. The group used open-source AI tools to operate offline, enabling large-scale social engineering campaigns.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) warns that human trafficking through online scam centers has become one of the fastest-growing forms of trafficking worldwide, with victims from over 80 countries lured into criminal operations. IOM Director General Amy Pope said these centers employ up to 300,000 workers across Southeast Asia and increasingly target educated people via fake job ads. Survivors often face abuse, debt and re-victimization, while global scam losses reached up to $114 billion last year.
A human rights group says more than 5,300 people remain held in online scam centers in Myanmar near the Thai border, despite a multinational crackdown last year. Many victims are foreign nationals, including about 1,600 Chinese citizens, in areas controlled by a local militia. The group warns that criminal operations continue to run scams and trafficking, harming victims globally.
A Cambodian court sentenced six Chinese nationals to life imprisonment on May 26 for killing a South Korean student. The defendants were part of an online scam ring, and the case has highlighted concerns over cybercrime and related violence in Cambodia.
