Executive Director of UNODC: Message on the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

For information only - not an official document

UNIS/CP/1199
29 July 2026

Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Monica Juma:

30 July 2026

A new form of human trafficking is emerging behind our screens.

This transnational crime involves sophisticated scam operations, where criminal networks deceive, recruit, and exploit vulnerable men and women into carrying out online fraud and other illicit activities.

It is estimated that more than 220,000 victims have been trafficked into this scam industry in Southeast Asia alone.

Once trapped, they are subjected to threats, abuse, and in many cases extreme violence, while being forced to scam millions of innocent people worldwide.

These activities generate billions of dollars in illicit profits, which go on to fuel corruption and money laundering.

And with the use of modern technology and artificial intelligence, criminal networks now operate with ease across borders and throughout the digital realm.

What began in Southeast Asia has spread to Africa, Europe, Latin America, and beyond, creating a truly global security threat.

That is why we need a united and coordinated international response.

At UNODC, we are uniquely positioned to support that response.

We are training criminal justice actors and frontline responders to investigate and prosecute this crime.

We are carrying out research to identify evolving trends through our Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.

And we are using our convening power to connect governments, tech companies, the private sector, civil society, and survivors.

Earlier this year, the Global Fraud Summit brought these stakeholders together to call for stronger action.

We now have a collective responsibility to answer that call.

By dismantling the criminal networks that profit from this human suffering.

By bringing to justice the perpetrators and masterminds who orchestrate these activities.

And by restoring the dignity of survivors and victims who have been caught in this web of exploitation.

As we mark this year's World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, let us act decisively to end the scam business and free those trapped behind it, for the sake of our common humanity.

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