By Deacon Mary Delancey
Human traffickers have become adept at using internet platforms, including social media channels, online marketplace sites, and free-standing webpages to recruit victims and attract clients. Traffickers either actively ‘hunt’ those who they deem as vulnerable to falling victim to trafficking, or passively ‘fish’ for potential victims by posting advertisements and waiting for potential victims to respond.
Reports to the National Human Trafficking Hotline involving internet contact have increased beginning in 2020 and continuing even after the lifting of pandemic restrictions. The internet gives traffickers greater anonymity and a much broader reach. In 2020, compared to the previous year, online recruitment through Facebook has risen 125%; Instagram, 95%; chat rooms, 36%; and other mobile apps, 60%. Online platforms were reported as the top recruitment location for labor and sex trafficking in 2020 and the trend appears to be continuing.
Here are some tips to protect yourself and your loved ones:
Set strict privacy settings
Traffickers have used information from posts to reach out to and recruit victims.
Beware of strange friend requests
Traffickers have reached out to strangers to ‘chat’ via social media and then slowly work to build trust with the potential victim.
Don’t overshare
Traffickers have used people’s photos and personal details to help them blackmail, contact, groom, or otherwise recruit and monitor victims
Beware of advertisements that seem too good to be true
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Flag it, don’t share it!
Stay vigilant in the online sphere and report suspicious pages or activities to the authorities.
Shared Hope International has excellent resources that can help you know the warning signs of potential trafficking and how to help children use the internet wisely.
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