APG Report Flags Alarming Rise of Cyber Scam Hubs Driven by Human Trafficking

New Delhi: The Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) has warned that organised criminal syndicates are operating sophisticated cyber scam hubs across Southeast Asia by trafficking thousands of people into forced criminality, generating billions of dollars in illicit profits each year through investment fraud, romance scams, phishing attacks and other online fraud schemes.

According to the Cyber Scam Hubs and Human Trafficking Report 2026, criminal networks exploit weakly regulated special economic zones, complex shell company structures and corruption to establish scam compounds where trafficked victims are forced to deceive people worldwide. Victims are often recruited through fake overseas job advertisements promising lucrative salaries in customer service, IT or digital marketing before being transported across borders and trapped inside heavily guarded compounds.  

The report states that cyber scam hubs have targeted victims in more than 100 jurisdictions, making the crime a truly global threat. Criminal groups primarily earn money through investment scams, romance scams, business email compromise, phishing, fake employment schemes and cryptocurrency fraud. Stolen funds are rapidly laundered using mule accounts, shell companies, underground banking channels, virtual assets, peer-to-peer crypto transfers and over-the-counter brokers, making investigations increasingly difficult.  

The APG notes that trafficked workers are subjected to horrific abuse, including passport confiscation, debt bondage, physical violence, torture, electric shocks, starvation, prolonged surveillance and threats against their families. Many are forced to work 12 to 16 hours a day carrying out online scams under strict performance targets, with punishment for failing to meet quotas.

The report also highlights the growing use of artificial intelligence, encrypted messaging platforms and multilingual content to scale scams and target victims across borders. AI-generated content, deepfakes and automated scripts are enabling criminal syndicates to reach more victims while reducing the time available for authorities to intercept fraudulent transactions.

Several case studies from countries including India, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Bangladesh and Malaysia demonstrate successful investigations involving international cooperation, financial intelligence and cryptocurrency tracing. However, APG warns that major challenges remain in cross-border investigations, asset recovery and crypto tracking.

To combat the growing threat, the APG has called for stronger international cooperation, enhanced intelligence sharing, closer public-private partnerships, improved anti-money laundering frameworks, greater due diligence by financial institutions and dedicated awareness campaigns to protect potential victims and dismantle transnational cyber scam networks.