Marrakech, Morocco: At the INTERPOL General Assembly, member countries adopted a major resolution to tackle the escalating global threat posed by transnational scam centres—criminal hubs responsible for large-scale fraud and exploitation across multiple continents.
These scam centres lure individuals with promises of lucrative overseas jobs and later force them to participate in illegal activities such as voice phishing, romance scams, investment fraud, and cryptocurrency fraud targeting victims worldwide. While not every worker in these centres is trafficked, many who are held against their will suffer severe abuse and coercion.
The resolution—proposed by the Republic of Korea—underscored the rapid evolution of these networks and their increasing use of advanced technologies to deceive victims and hide their operations, stressing the need for a unified global law-enforcement response.
Global Joint Action Plan Adopted
Key recommendations include:
🔹 Real-time intelligence sharing to track perpetrators, locations and modus operandi
🔹 Multinational joint operations supported by INTERPOL
🔹 Targeting criminal financing and frozen illicit assets connected to scam syndicates
🔹 Standardised emergency protocols to locate, rescue and repatriate trafficking victims
🔹 Expanded victim support and global awareness campaigns for vulnerable groups, including youth and job seekers
INTERPOL Reaffirms Commitment
INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza emphasized the need for coordinated global action:
“To effectively counter these criminal networks, we must strengthen collaboration, improve information sharing and move forward with coordinated, decisive action. INTERPOL is committed to supporting the resolution’s implementation and protecting those most at risk.”
Escalation in Global Scams
INTERPOL crime-trend reporting has shown a large rise in cases, with victims trafficked from more than 60 countries and scam centers expanding beyond Southeast Asia. Many of these criminal networks now overlap with markets for drugs, firearms, and wildlife trafficking.
In 2024, INTERPOL’s largest-ever global operation against trafficking-fuelled fraud across 116 countries led to the arrest of more than 2,500 offenders. Regional operations have also been carried out in Africa and Europe.
INTERPOL has been warning member countries about the seriousness of this threat since 2022, when a Purple Notice first highlighted social-media-based recruitment as a new modus operandi. This was followed by a 2023 Orange Notice highlighting human-trafficking-fuelled fraud as an imminent global security risk.
Summary
The newly adopted resolution marks a **decisive step toward international collective action**, ensuring unified intelligence, operations, victim-support mechanisms, and awareness campaigns against scam centers that impact citizens across the globe.
