Trafficking for forced criminality is operating at industrial scale.
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What began in Southeast Asia has expanded significantly. Our civil society partner network is documenting cases from across Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Africa, and beyond. This dashboard presents what practitioners on the ground are seeing — alongside estimates from international sources where our own data has gaps.
2900+
Survivor cases our partner network has been directly in contact with, 2022–2026
41
Nationalities documented at a single border crossing over five months in 2025
$64B
Conservative annual estimate of funds stolen by scam syndicates worldwide
People are trafficked through false promises of work
The following draws on case records contributed by civil society partners to Freedom Collaborative since 2022. It reflects what our partners have been able to document, not the full scope of the issue. All figures are likely undercounts.
Every region of the world is now a source
Countries of origin documented across Freedom Collaborative's civil society partners, 2022–2026. Bubble size reflects share of total documented cases. Colours indicate region.
Civil society case data contributed to Freedom Collaborative by partner organizations, 2022–2026.
Reported cases have increased each year
Civil society case data and documented mass displacement events, 2022–2026.
76% of documented victims are male
Civil society case data contributed to Freedom Collaborative by partner organizations, 2022–2026.
79% of documented cases are under 35
Civil society case data contributed to Freedom Collaborative by partner organizations, 2022–2026.
An industry,
not just a crime.
Scam compounds are structured facilities — staffed, financed, and managed as businesses. The fraud they generate is industrialised, AI-assisted, and expanding into new regions. Understanding how the system works is essential to understanding why it persists.
Hundreds of documented sites — and the number is growing
Scam compounds are large, often fortified facilities in remote border areas and special economic zones. Investigators identify new sites regularly. The figures below represent what has been documented, not the full extent of the infrastructure.
Compound sites documented in Cambodia and Myanmar by open-source investigators
Estimated global losses from organised fraud and scams presented at the INTERPOL-UNODC Global Fraud Summit, Vienna.
Continents where compound infrastructure or related operations have now been documented — from Southeast Asia to Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Pacific.
Compound data: Cyber Scam Monitor · Financial losses: Global Anti-Scam Alliance · Geographic expansion: UNODC Inflection Point Report 2025
Trafficked individuals are assigned scripts, targets, and daily quotas — under threat of violence
Inside compounds, people conduct romance scams, investment fraud, and pig butchering operations — directed at victims globally. AI tools now allow a single operator to run multiple fraud conversations simultaneously. Morning assemblies included low-performing teams being publicly subjected to punishment as a warning to others.
Recruitment and coercion patterns: Freedom Collaborative partner network · OHCHR (2026) · UNODC · Interpol
Criminal networks move proceeds through layered financial systems — cryptocurrency, informal banking, and shell companies. The Huione Group alone processed $24 billion through its guarantee marketplace. Financial tracing is one of the most viable tools available to disrupt these networks.
This problem requires
a coordinated response.
Civil society organizations are the primary responders on the ground — identifying survivors, coordinating repatriation, and documenting what governments cannot. Freedom Collaborative connects these organizations across Southeast Asia, East Africa, and beyond. If you work in this space, we want to hear from you.