THE SECRETARY-GENERAL -- MESSAGE ON THE WORLD DAY AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 2026

On this World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, we shine a light on the fastest-growing form of human trafficking: forced online scamming.

Across the globe, people are being lured by false promises of decent work – only to find themselves trapped by criminal networks and coerced into carrying out scams on others.

Scamming operations defraud millions of people, generating vast illicit profits for transnational organized crime. Powerful new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are helping the fraudsters spread at an alarming speed.

This mounting threat demands a united global response – one that brings together intelligence services, law enforcement and financial regulators to trace networks and starve perpetrators of their funds.

In 2024, Member States adopted the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, a landmark agreement to strengthen cross-border collaboration. I call on governments everywhere to ratify the Convention, confront the corruption that enables criminals, and ensure technology companies rein in the abuses on their platforms. At the same time, we must support the survivors of scam centres to recover and rebuild their lives.

Human trafficking in all its forms is a gross violation of human rights. By working together we can end the exploitation, once and for all.

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