INTERPOL

INTERPOL has issued an Orange Notice alerting its 195 member countries of a rapidly escalating crime trend involving large-scale human trafficking tied to fraudulent online job ads. Victims, deceived by fake job promises, are coerced into committing cyber-enabled financial crimes, marking a disturbing fusion of human exploitation and cyber fraud. Initial traces of this activity were identified in Southeast Asia, with Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar acting as primary trafficking hubs. However, the criminal model has since taken root and expanded into Western Africa, an area already grappling with cyber-enabled financial crime. “Trafficking hubs have now been discovered in at least four additional Asian countries,” reported Jürgen Stock, INTERPOL Secretary General. “This ominous trend, once a regional threat, has evolved into a global human trafficking crisis.” The demographic profile of the victims has expanded as dramatically as the geographical reach of the crime.