Latest news with #Interpol-led
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Human trafficking on the rise as online scam hubs go global
Representative image Human trafficking-fueled scam centers have significantly expanded their operations worldwide, according to a crime trend update released on Monday by the international police agency Interpol. Hubs where trafficking victims are forced to take part in online fraud first emerged in a few Southeast Asian nations, but investigators are now also uncovering similar fraud centers in other regions. Where are scam centers spreading? According to the international police organization, victims now come from 66 countries across all continents, highlighting what Interpol describes as a " global crisis " involving hundreds of thousands of people. Scam centers are now increasingly found in other regions, including the Middle East, West Africa, fast emerging as a new regional hub, and Central America. Victims are often lured with fake job offers and then held captive in scam compounds. Many are blackmailed over alleged debts, beaten, sexually exploited, and in some cases tortured or raped. Inside these centers, they are forced to run online scams, mostly targeting people abroad to steal money. A 2024 Interpol-led operation exposed dozens of cases where victims were coerced into committing fraud, including a raid on an industrial-scale scam centre in the Philippines. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo That same year, police dismantled a centre in Namibia where 88 youths were forced to scam others. Emerging technologies are fuelling this trend further. The crime update notes a surge in the use of artificial intelligence, from generating fake job ads to creating deepfake profiles for "sextortion" and romance scams. Who are the victims? Interpol says the pool of those preyed upon has widened significantly. While early human trafficking victims were mainly Chinese-speaking and came from China, Malaysia, Thailand or Singapore, people are now being trafficked to such hubs from South America, East Africa and Western Europe. "Tackling this rapidly globalizing threat requires a coordinated international response," said said Interpol's acting head of police services Cyril Gout. Who are the people traffickers? The report found that about 90 per cent of human trafficking facilitators came from Asia, while 11% were from South America or Africa. About 80 per cent of these facilitators were men, with 61 per cent aged between 20 and 39. Online scam centers were initially concentrated in Cambodia, with additional trafficking hubs later uncovered in Laos and Myanmar. Today, similar operations have been identified in at least four more Asian countries, and evidence shows the model is spreading to other regions such as West Africa, where cyber-enabled financial crime is already common. In its findings, Interpol warned that the spread of such criminal networks needs urgent, coordinated action to disrupt trafficking routes and support victims. Interpol said that these criminal hubs are increasingly intertwined with other major transnational crimes, demanding a globally coordinated response. Trafficking routes used for scam centers are being exploited for smuggling drugs, firearms, and endangered wildlife like tigers and pangolins, Interpol said.
DW
2 days ago
- DW
Human trafficking on the rise as online scam hubs go global – DW – 06/30/2025
International police body Interpol says scam centers that use human trafficking victims to carry out their crimes have gone global. Once limited to Southeast Asia, the criminal model is spreading — and uses AI. Human trafficking-fueled scam centers have significantly expanded their operations worldwide, according to a crime trend update released on Monday by the international police agency Interpol. Hubs where trafficking victims are forced to take part in online fraud first emerged in a few Southeast Asian nations, but investigators are now also uncovering similar fraud centers in other regions. According to the international police organization, victims now come from 66 countries across all continents, highlighting what Interpol describes as a "global crisis" involving hundreds of thousands of people. Scam centers are now increasingly found in other regions, including the Middle East, West Africa — fast emerging as a new regional hub — and Central America. Victims are often lured with fake job offers and then held captive in scam compounds. Many are blackmailed over alleged debts, beaten, sexually exploited, and in some cases tortured or raped. Inside these centers, they are forced to run online scams, mostly targeting people abroad to steal money. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A 2024 Interpol-led operation exposed dozens of cases where victims were coerced into committing fraud, including a raid on an industrial-scale scam centre in the Philippines. That same year, police dismantled a centre in Namibia where 88 youths were forced to scam others. Emerging technologies are fuelling this trend further. The crime update notes a surge in the use of artificial intelligence, from generating fake job ads to creating deepfake profiles for "sextortion" and romance scams. Interpol says the pool of those preyed upon has widened significantly. While early human trafficking victims were mainly Chinese-speaking and came from China, Malaysia, Thailand or Singapore, people are now being trafficked to such hubs from South America, East Africa and Western Europe. "Tackling this rapidly globalizing threat requires a coordinated international response," said said Interpol's acting head of police services Cyril Gout. The report found that about 90% of human trafficking facilitators came from Asia, while 11% were from South America or Africa. About 80% of these facilitators were men, with 61% aged between 20 and 39. Online scam centers were initially concentrated in Cambodia, with additional trafficking hubs later uncovered in Laos and Myanmar. Today, similar operations have been identified in at least four more Asian countries, and evidence shows the model is spreading to other regions such as West Africa, where cyber-enabled financial crime is already common. In its findings, Interpol warned that the spread of such criminal networks needs urgent, coordinated action to disrupt trafficking routes and support victims. Interpol said that these criminal hubs are increasingly intertwined with other major transnational crimes, demanding a globally coordinated response. Trafficking routes used for scam centers are being exploited for smuggling drugs, firearms, and endangered wildlife like tigers and pangolins, Interpol said.
DW
3 days ago
- DW
More trafficking victims forced into online scam hubs – DW – 06/30/2025
International police body Interpol says scam centers that use human trafficking victims to carry out their crimes have gone global. Once limited to Southeast Asia, the criminal model is spreading — and uses AI. Human trafficking-fueled scam centers have significantly expanded their operations worldwide, according to a crime trend update released on Monday by the international police agency Interpol. Hubs where trafficking victims are forced to take part in online fraud first emerged in a few Southeast Asian nations, but investigators are now also uncovering similar fraud centers in other regions. According to the international police organization, victims now come from 66 countries across all continents, highlighting what Interpol describes as a "global crisis" involving hundreds of thousands of people. Scam centers are now increasingly found in other regions, including the Middle East, West Africa — fast emerging as a new regional hub — and Central America. Victims are often lured with fake job offers and then held captive in scam compounds. Many are blackmailed over alleged debts, beaten, sexually exploited, and in some cases tortured or raped. Inside these centers, they are forced to run online scams, mostly targeting people abroad to steal money. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A 2024 Interpol-led operation exposed dozens of cases where victims were coerced into committing fraud, including a raid on an industrial-scale scam centre in the Philippines. That same year, police dismantled a centre in Namibia where 88 youths were forced to scam others. Emerging technologies are fuelling this trend further. The crime update notes a surge in the use of artificial intelligence, from generating fake job ads to creating deepfake profiles for "sextortion" and romance scams. Interpol says the pool of those preyed upon has widened significantly. While early human trafficking victims were mainly Chinese-speaking and came from China, Malaysia, Thailand or Singapore, people are now being trafficked to such hubs from South America, East Africa and Western Europe. "Tackling this rapidly globalizing threat requires a coordinated international response," said said Interpol's acting head of police services Cyril Gout. The report found that about 90% of human trafficking facilitators came from Asia, while 11% were from South America or Africa. About 80% of these facilitators were men, with 61% aged between 20 and 39. Online scam centers were initially concentrated in Cambodia, with additional trafficking hubs later uncovered in Laos and Myanmar. Today, similar operations have been identified in at least four more Asian countries, and evidence shows the model is spreading to other regions such as West Africa, where cyber-enabled financial crime is already common. In its findings, Interpol warned that the spread of such criminal networks needs urgent, coordinated action to disrupt trafficking routes and support victims. Interpol said that these criminal hubs are increasingly intertwined with other major transnational crimes, demanding a globally coordinated response. Trafficking routes used for scam centers are being exploited for smuggling drugs, firearms, and endangered wildlife like tigers and pangolins, Interpol said.
Morocco World
14-06-2025
- Morocco World
Marrakech Police Arrest Interpol-Wanted French-Malian National
According to a statement released by Morocco's General Directorate of National Security ( DGSN ), the suspect is wanted in connection with the execution of a prison sentence for international drug trafficking as part of a criminal gang, as stated in the agency's official X post. The individual was confirmed to be under the international warrant through an Interpol database check, which revealed he is also wanted for money laundering in addition to criminal drug activities. Following his arrest, the suspect was placed under pre-extradition detention. French judicial authorities have been formally notified and are expected to send an official request from Paris to proceed. This is a continuing part of Morocco's strong presence contributing to Interpol's work in global security. Interpol President Ahmed Naser Al Raisi has previously lauded the country's efforts, describing their active involvement in more than a dozen Interpol-led projects as 'exceptional.' Morocco has established itself as a key security partner on the international stage, regularly offering intelligence support to assist foreign authorities in tracking and apprehending wanted individuals. Tags: DGSN and DGSTInterpolInterpol and morocco
New Paper
11-06-2025
- New Paper
Over 1,000 malicious IP addresses in Singapore taken down in Interpol-led crackdown
More than 1,000 malicious IP addresses in Singapore were taken down in a four-month Interpol-led operation involving law enforcement agencies in 26 countries. The joint operation - dubbed Operation Secure - was conducted between January and April 2025, and targeted a type of malware known as "infostealers". According to Interpol, infostealers are tools for gaining unauthorised access to organisational networks. This type of malicious software extracts sensitive data from infected devices, including browser credentials, passwords, cookies, credit card details and cryptocurrency wallet data. Logs harvested by infostealers are increasingly traded by cyber criminals and frequently used as a gateway for further attacks, Interpol said in a statement on June 11. These logs often enable initial access for ransomware deployments, data breaches and cyber-enabled fraud schemes, it added. Interpol said Operation Secure managed to take down 20,000 malicious IP addresses and domains, seize 41 servers and over 100 gigabytes of data, and nab 32 suspects. More than 1,000 of these IP addresses were in Singapore, taken down with the joint efforts of the Cybercrime Command - under the Criminal Investigation Department of the Singapore Police Force - and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA). Interpol said over 216,000 victims and potential victims were notified, so they could change their passwords, freeze their accounts or remove unauthorised access. The Singapore police said on June 11 that its active participation in Operation Secure "reinforces (its) commitment to safeguarding Singaporeans from increasingly sophisticated cyber crime". "Our strong collaboration with key local and international partners in Operation Secure was a key success factor in dismantling these cyber-criminal networks," said Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Tay, head of the Cybercrime Command. "We will continue to work with CSA and other like-minded partners to protect Singaporeans and businesses from threats in cyber space, and will spare no effort to disrupt cyber criminals and their operations," he added.
