To mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on 30 July, the INTERCEPTED project has launched a video campaign shining a light on one of the trafficking’s fastest-growing and least visible forms: forced cyber-scam labor.
Behind the flood of spam texts and “too-good-to-be-true” job offers many of us dismiss and delete every day lies a brutal reality — many of these messages are sent by trafficking victims trapped in overseas compounds. Lured abroad by fake job advertisements, these individuals have their passports confiscated and are forced, under threat of violence, to run online scams for up to 18 hours a day. The result is a devastating cycle with victims on both ends: the person losing their savings to the scam, and the person being forced to carry it out.
The campaign calls on the public to learn and recognize the warning signs of this scheme, including:
- Overseas job offers that only require a tourist visa
- Secrecy or vagueness around the actual workplace location
- Promises of unrealistic, overnight earnings
Through awareness-raising, encouraging the reporting of suspicious recruitment offers, and sharing the Blue Heart symbol on 30 July, INTERCEPTED joins the global community in supporting victims and pushing back against these criminal networks.
