MOSCOW, July 29: There has been a sharp increase in the number of human trafficking scams in Asia, aimed at providing fraudulent call centres with forced labour, with over 300,000 people involved in their activities in just three countries, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Director General Amy Pope said on Tuesday.
During a briefing in Geneva, Pope said that large fraudulent call centers operating in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos employ up to 300,000 people.
A significant number of these people have fallen victim to scams during recruitment through fake job postings offering lucrative contracts to candidates with English language skills and a college degree, she said.
Victims are deprived of their passports and forced to carry out scam activities online under threats of violence, Pope added.
According to the IOM, people are being recruited into human trafficking and forced to participate in criminal activities such as cyber fraud, illegal financial operations, drug trafficking, and other offenses, often under conditions of violence, imprisonment, debt bondage, and psychological coercion.
(UNI)
