طباعة

Unmasking Trafficking in Human Beings scams in the digital age

Criminal networks are increasingly exploiting victims through digital scam centres, forcing them into cyber-enabled fraud and other illicit activities. The EU's proposed new sanctions will disrupt the criminal networks behind these operations and support victims.

Banner depicting a CCTV looking at a human chained to a desk.
© United Nations

 

Transnational organised crime groups are using digital scams to lure and exploit thousands of individuals. From Southeast Asia to Latin America to West Africa and beyond, victims are deceived by fake job offers but instead of the promised careers, they find themselves held against their will in illegal compounds, coerced to participate in large financial fraud operations.

“Scam centres” are a complex security threat at the intersection of trafficking in human beings, forcing them into criminality through cybercrime, financial fraud, money-laundering and corruption scams.

In the digital age, this threat is evolving and growing. The European Union is pursuing a comprehensive approach to counter it. It works with international partners to strengthen prevention and law enforcement cooperation, promotes a human rights-based approach that puts victims at the centre of its response, and on 9 July 2026, the Commission and the High Representative presented proposals for a new EU sanctions regime to disrupt the criminal networks behind trafficking.

We are proposing a new sanctions regime to target organised criminal networks where it hurts them most: their finances and their ability to operate across borders. We will make these crimes harder, riskier, and far less profitable. In doing so, we strengthen the rules-based international order and support our partners. - High Representative/Vice President Kaja Kallas

Sanctions to target organised crime

Earlier in July, the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas proposed a new EU sanctions regime to tackle migrant smuggling, trafficking in human beings, and other serious forms of organised crime, including trafficking in firearm s and illicit drugs as well as money laundering.

The proposed framework would enable sanctions against individuals and entities involved in these activities, including their leaders, through asset freezes, prohibitions on making funds or economic resources available to them, and travel bans, helping to disrupt the financial networks that enable these criminal organisations to operate across borders.

Global partnerships against trafficking

Global solidarity is required to dismantle these complex crime networks. The EU is a strong partner of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and recognises the vital need for international cooperation to eradicate trafficking in human beings. This long-standing partnership enables UNODC to provide critical expertise to crime prevention and criminal justice agencies, as well as victim support organisations in partner countries around the world.

Together, UNODC and the EU support countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America by training investigators, prosecutors and other criminal justice professionals to dismantle criminal networks, identify victims and ensure they can access justice and support services.

On 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the EU and UNODC issued a joint statement warning about rising human trafficking for criminal activities in scam centres, which calls for urgent and coordinated international action to tackle this form of trafficking and ensure victims receive the protection they need.

The EU also works closely with ASEAN partners, the Council of Europe, Interpol and within the G7 framework to strengthen prevention, law enforcement cooperation and victim protection. Through regional initiatives such as the ESIWA+ programme (Enhancing Security Cooperation in and with Asia), the EU also supports policy dialogues and high-level seminars with partners to tackle the growing threat of scam centres.

Human rights-based approach

The fight against trafficking in human beings lies at the heart of the EU’s values and action. The EU's response is based on a comprehensive, human rights-based, gender-responsive and child-sensitive approach, in line with international law, including the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.