Jakarta. Bali Process co-chair Indonesia recently warned of the online job scams that culminate in human trafficking, as many people have gotten tricked by overseas employment opportunities that sound too good to be true.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 27.6 million people find themselves in situations of forced labor on any given day. Many of these cases stem from poor recruitment processes, including human trafficking, according to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

“The government and private sector should work together to fight human trafficking. We should pay special attention to the increasingly rampant online job scams,” Retno said on Friday following the Bali Process talks in Adelaide, Australia.

Bali Process is an international forum that aims to combat people smuggling, human trafficking, and related transnational crimes. Indonesia, together with Australia, has been co-chairing the forum since 2002.

Online job scams became one of the topics discussed at the ministerial plenary and business-government session of the recent Bali Process talks.

“Human traffickers are getting more sophisticated by using technology to commit their [crimes]. This makes it more difficult to identify,” Retno said.

Indonesia at the ministerial plenary urged the Bali Process to focus on improving prevention efforts. The Bali Process should also work on combating technology misuse, and optimizing the impact of the international forum, according to Retno.

Garibaldi "Boy" Thohir, the chief executive officer of mining giant Adaro Energy and co-chair of the Bali Process government-business forum (GABF), also proposed a “tech forum” that would focus on young tech entrepreneurs. The tech forum is slated for the second half of 2023.

“This Tech Forum will provide concrete steps, together with businesses and governments, to combat human trafficking related to online scams,” Retno said.

News outlet Antara reported that the number of Indonesians getting scammed by fake overseas job listings is on the rise. 

Judha Nugraha, the director for citizen protection at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, recently told Antara that 1,185 Indonesians became victims of online job scams in 2021. About 864 Indonesians fell prey to such scams in Cambodia last year, marking a huge jump from 116 victims in 2021.

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