Amrita university finds AI is accelerating online scams, trafficking networks
Researchers from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and their international collaborators have found that artificial intelligence (AI) is making organised online scam operations faster, more persuasive and increasingly difficult to detect, following discussions with insiders and more than 115 trafficking survivors.
The research examined scam compounds operating in Southeast Asia, where people recruited through fake overseas job advertisements are allegedly trafficked, confined and forced to carry out romance, cryptocurrency and investment scams under constant surveillance, threats and violence.
The studies were conducted by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in collaboration with Ben-Gurion University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Venice and Colorado State University. Released on the United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the research aligns with this year’s UN theme, “Trapped Behind the Scam,” which highlights the trafficking networks behind cyber-enabled fraud.
The researchers cited estimates that scams targeting people in East and Southeast Asia caused losses of between US$18 billion and $37 billion in 2023.
According to the findings, the person initiating a romantic conversation or offering an investment opportunity online may not necessarily be an independent cybercriminal but could instead be a trafficking victim compelled to contact strangers for long hours each day.
The study found that scam compounds function like organised companies, complete with managers, human resources departments, training manuals, daily targets and scripted conversations. Victims reportedly have their passports confiscated and are charged for food, accommodation and other necessities, while failure to meet targets can result in violence, threats or mounting debt.
One trafficking survivor told researchers that workers were even made to pay for “breathing seaside air.”
Researchers said much of the forced labour involves cultivating emotional relationships over days or weeks before introducing fraudulent financial schemes. They warned that AI is increasingly being used to assist-and potentially automate-this trust-building process.
One of Amrita’s flagship research projects, Love, Lies, and Language Models: Investigating AI’s Role in Romance-Baiting Scams, will be presented at USENIX Security ‘26, a leading international cybersecurity conference. The study found that AI tools are already being used to translate messages, improve tone and generate personalised responses for potential victims.
In a week-long experiment, participants believed they were interacting with two human users, whereas one of the conversations was conducted by an autonomous AI agent. The AI complied with requests 46 per cent of the time, compared with 18 per cent for a trained human operator.
The researchers also found that commercial content filters failed to identify romance-baiting conversations because the messages initially appeared to be ordinary expressions of friendship, affection and emotional support.
“Many of these scam messages are sent by trafficked people who are forced to send them. The same technology that scales the fraud can identify the fake job advertisement that lured them in. Current protections are insufficient and the burden is still on the targeted person. This means we need more awareness and research,” said Dr Krishnashree Achuthan, Dean, PG Programs, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
The research team has also developed a machine-learning system capable of detecting fake job advertisements used to recruit trafficking victims. Trained on a multilingual dataset of job postings in English, Hindi and Bengali, the system identifies warning signs such as unrealistic salaries, vague job descriptions, urgent hiring requests and suspicious overseas employment offers.
According to the researchers, the technology could eventually be integrated into job portals and browser extensions to warn applicants about potentially fraudulent job advertisements before they become victims of trafficking.
The researchers said the work was inspired by the humanitarian vision of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma), Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, whose initiatives have focused on protecting women and children from exploitation, including abuse through digital platforms.
