India, July 29 -- A job advert can hide a criminal network, and a single click can lead to a nightmare. Hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked every year on the promise of legitimate work abroad, only to be held captive and forced into online scam operations.

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued an alert *on Tuesday over the rapidly expanding, multibillion-dollar criminal industry that turns job seekers into forced cybercriminals.

"We're seeing victims from over 80 different countries being trafficked into the scam centres, which are specifically playing out across Asia," said Amy Pope, IOM Director General, briefing journalists in Geneva.

Once victims arrive, they are locked inside compounds, stripped o...