Scam-Based Human Trafficking Through a Trauma-Informed and Intersectional Lens: An Integrative Narrative Review

Scam-based human trafficking is an emerging form of digitally mediated exploitation in which individuals may be financially victimized, coerced into online fraud operations, or both. This integrative narrative review synthesizes academic and gray literature on scam-based trafficking, including pig-butchering scams, romance fraud, scam compounds, forced criminality, and cyber-enabled financial exploitation, through a trauma-informed and intersectional lens. Structured searches were conducted in Google Scholar and PubMed, supplemented by citation tracking, coauthor-identified references, and targeted review of policy and agency reports. Sources were eligible if they addressed scam-based trafficking, online fraud, forced criminality, trauma vulnerability, psychological consequences, revictimization, help-seeking barriers, linguistic or technological mechanisms of deception, digital literacy, platform design, or trauma-informed intervention. After screening and eligibility assessment, 88 sources were included in the final synthesis. Findings are organized across five domains: trauma as a vulnerability factor, linguistic and technological mechanisms of deception, intersecting sociocultural and structural vulnerabilities, trauma outcomes and revictimization cycles, and trauma-informed interventions. The review suggests that trauma may function both as a preexisting vulnerability and as an outcome of exploitation. Scam-based trafficking should therefore be understood not only as financial fraud or cybercrime, but also as a trauma-related and intersectionally structured form of exploitation. Effective responses should combine trauma-informed clinical care, emotional scam literacy, culturally responsive services, digital safety education, platform accountability, and coordinated systems of support.