Dhaka, July 28 -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday said it had assisted more than 3,500 victims of trafficking for forced criminality across South-East Asia, from 39 countries, with the largest numbers originating from Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Bangladesh between 2022 and 2025.

Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have been trafficked by criminal networks and forced to participate in online scams in a multibillion-dollar criminal industry, it warned ahead of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons to be observed on July 30 under the theme "Trapped Behind the Scam."

To strengthen its response, IOM called for continued support to assist victims of trafficking through protection, s...