How do sex traffickers use emoji symbols on social media apps like Instagram to sell children and find clients?

• The profile page or post descriptions will have specific emoji icons. What are they?
  • crown, rose, cherry, cherry blossom, growing heart, and airplane.
• Why do human traffickers use emojis? To secretly communicate with buyers and potential clients.
• Can you search a specific emoji on Instagram? Yes! How?
  1. When you login to the app, go to the ‘magnifying glass’ icon at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Type the emoji that you want to look up (use your cell phone’s keyboard).
  3. Click the category field labeled “Top “. In this example, we typed in the “growing heart” image. 
  4. Now scroll down the page on your phone until you see the emoji accompanied by a hashtag #. The app will automatically add the hashtag so you do not have to type it in. For instructions on how to do this, refer to the screenshot for a visual reference.

What are 6 ways to find suspected (male and female) pimps and gang members selling minors on Instagram? 

1. Search by Location:
   • When you use the search function in the app, you have four options to pick from: Top, People, Tags, Places. In this case, select “Places”
   • Type in local hotels in your area, music festivals, concert tours, car shows, gala events.
   • North American International Detroit Auto Show, Artprize in Grand Rapids Michigan, Nascar, Superbowl, Lansing MI, Kentucky Derby, etc. 
2. Check the Profile Page:
   • Do they say anything about “DM for Hookup”?
   • Can you spot one of the six emoji symbols mentioned above?
3. Check out their Posts:
   • Do you see the word “daddy”? (not to be confused with an innocent picture of a person’s father).
   • Notice the hashtags for each post. Do you see #daddy #pimp #money #dollars, #rich, etc?
4. Does the woman in the photo have one of these clearly defined tattoos? 
5. Is there a group of girls in the photo and only 1 man?
6. What is the girl wearing? Luxury or designer clothes? Or, is she dressed seductively?
   • This is not always a guarantee. Unfortunately it can be difficult to distinguish victims of trafficking from those who are not when observing the large quantity of pictures on the app.
7. Here’s a few more ideas!

Email Us: SkepticalWorld@gmail.com 

Whisper is one of the most popular social media phone apps today. Whether you live in a town like Lansing Michigan in the Midwest, a large city, or in another country outside the United States, you can connect with thousands of men and women ranging in age from middle school children to college students to older adults.

Why is this app such a big deal? Because users can post anonymously without repercussions. They can rant, bully, vent, and say whatever they feel to an active audience who will listen and reply back.

What types of comments are posted online? We logged into the phone app and did a keyword search on “sex trafficking”. To our surprise, we read several disturbing statements from users. See the corresponding images and screenshots in this blog.

After reading through these phrases written by users, it’s appalling to realize that some people still don’t accept human trafficking as a serious issue but rather as a laughing joke.

Did you witness creepy or disturbing content on Whisper? Were you privately contacted by a possible trafficker? Were you able to take a screenshot of the message? Email Us SkepticalWorld@gmail.com 

Sex Traffickers claim ownership of women by branding them with tattoos. How can you tell the difference between a tattoo that is used for possession and one used for self-expression? When comparing tattoos, here is what you can hypothetically look for:

1. Is the tattoo one of the following gang symbols or signs?
   • Crown, Diamond, Barcode, Phone Number, Dollar Sign, Money Bag, or Hearts
2. Is the tattoo accompanied by a man’s name, a (street) nickname, someone’s initials, or a number?
3. Where is the tattoo located on the body?
   • If the tattoo is hidden or in a secretive spot, then this may be a form of self-expression. Why? Because when pimps label their sex slaves, they have two goals in mind: to mark ownership and to verify that other men know whose ‘property’ belongs to who.
   • Think about this for a minute – what would be the point of hiding a tattoo in a secret spot under the clothes if the gang-member wants another pimp to always know who her boss is?
   • Is the tattoo located in an obvious spot such as the chest, wrist, leg, arm, or front or back of the neck?
4. What size is the tattoo?
   • For example, let’s say it’s a crown. How big is it on the person’s body? Is it small? Giant?
5. What color ink is the tattoo?
   • You rarely see a human trafficking victim’s tattoo marked in pastel, bright or neon colors. However, it does happen as noted in the picture for “King Pooh”.
   • If you do a Google image search on victim tattoos of sex trafficking, you’ll find that most often (but not always) the ink is a neutral-color, brown, black, gray, or green.

     

     

Reference:
Toronto Star Investigation: Ontario Canada
Ink180 Trafficking in America
Fawco: Human Rights Bulletin News
Cancer in Cytes: Rebranded by New Life
Controversial Times: Disturbing ‘Crown’ Tattoos

*Note to the Reader: These ideas and suggestions are solely the opinions of writers and bloggers of the Skeptical World website and do not confirm or guarantee information about a victim except to provide awareness into the subject. 

Do you have an opinion or would like to add something to this topic? Email Us SkepticalWorld@gmail.com 

Human trafficking occurs in Greater Lansing Michigan. Are you aware of this? Did you also know that Lansing is in the top 6 cities of the state to report the most phone calls of sex traffickers? Currently there are ‘sex rings’ going on right now in Mid-Michigan. Any child or minor can be a victim as well as college students at Michigan State University.

Just recently, a young woman was assaulted, beaten, and sexually exploited by a pimp for three days. How did she get involved in the first place? The female claimed she knew the male and they had been friends for at least a year. Then one day the man takes her to a townhouse in Ingham County at LaRoy Froh Housing on Reo Road near the corner of Jolly and Waverly. At this point, the victim is physically abused by both the pimp and his girlfriend. Then he takes photos of her body to post an ad online.  The next day she is taken to another location and forced to have sex with a random guy who saw the online ad and paid the pimp $100 cash.

Why is it important to watch the news and read about what’s going on in your city? Because you need to understand that kidnapping and modern day slavery does occur in our hometown, and sometimes it’s happening a few miles away at a nearby motel, townhome, or apartment complex.

What can you do to help if you witness suspicious activity?

If you are a safe distance away, then try to take a picture with your cell phone of the people involved and and a vehicle license plate. Capture a brief description of the men and women involved by noting their physical appearance, clothes, accessories, car make & model. Report this information and your photo to the local police by calling or emailing.

Email Us SkepticalWorld@gmail.com

Reference:
Lansing State Journal: 3 Days in ‘House of Horrors’ Held Captive
Detroit Free Press: Woman Sex-Trafficking Minors
Owosso MI Girl: Victim of Modern Slavery
The House of Promise: Refuge for Women and Safe Place to Heal

How many sex traffickers are using Instagram to recruit wealthy clients and underage youth for their illegal prostitution business? We may never know for sure. Is it possible to search for these criminals and report them? Nothing is a guarantee, but here are some ideas or suggestions that may help in finding pimps (both of whom are men and women) on Instagram and arresting them:

1. Search specific hashtags that are relevant:

• What hashtag would a rich client type in the search bar to get a ‘quick hookup’?
  • #money #dollars #booty #boobs #sexy
  • #cash #rich #luxury #gold #millions

2. Search photos of cash

• Someone in the photo might be showing off large amounts of cash or counting  their money (video)

3. Search photos of women with tattoos that are carved with the following signs:

• Crown, Diamond, Barcode, Dollar Sign $, Money Bags
• A Man’s Initials alongside any of the above symbols
• A Street Nickname in combination with any of the above symbols
• Did you know? Certain tattoos can distinguish a victim of sex trafficking

4. Search photos of luxury lifestyles:

• Gucci or Louis Vuitton bags, shopping at expensive clothing stores, fancy dinner meals, or nice cars

5. Observe the user’s profile page

1. When you click on a suspicious photo in the gallery, you can see the user’s profile page who uploaded that photo. Checkout what he wrote in his profile description as well as on his posts. Does he mention any of the following:
   • “Interested in making extra cash?”
   • “Inbox me to make easy money”
   • “DM me” or “DM for a quick hookup” or “WhatsApp Me”
   • “Confidential Services”
   • Note – Chances are, he or she will not leave a phone number. But rather they are hoping to be contacted through the Instagram messenger service.

6. Look at their Grammar in Post Descriptions and the Profile Page

1. Is it sloppy? Does it show poor usage of the English language? Everyone uses typical slang but that’s not what I’m referring to.
2. Here are a few examples:
   • “My girl bouta go shopping” or “just touchd down wit our cuts”
   • In the examples above, notice that some words are missing a letter or not spelled correctly

*Note to the Reader: These image screenshots taken from Instagram cannot be identified as actual or real human traffickers. However, it is our belief that these users and their posts have arose suspicion.

Do you have an opinion or suggestion on how to find male and female predators on social media? Email Us SkepticalWorld@gmail.com 

Did you know sex trafficking occurs in Greater Lansing and near the Michigan State University campus?

How do sex traffickers stay in business? They need wealthy clients and a place to prostitute underage youth. So where do they go? Truck stops, hotels, apartment complexes are just a few places. How do they find rich clientèle? Almost any city has an upper class ‘wealthy’ community and these are the clients. 

So how does it work? Gang members will post an ad online to try and sell these minors into prostitution on websites such as Backpage.com or Craigslist. These ads often contain graphic and provocative images of the young person’s body. They will also take advantage of social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram. For example on Instagram, the pimp may write a message in his profile page or directly on the post to indicate how he would like to be contacted usually through ‘DM’ or direct message.

Back in 2015, a 14 year old girl from Mason (Ingham County) was abducted by a 23 year old Michigan State college graduate student named Jordan Ireland. She met this man online. They were communicating through social media apps called Whisper and Kik. Her parents had no idea that she was talking to this older guy on the internet. When she got into his car, he took her to his friend’s apartment at Spartan Village across from the MSU campus, not far from the Breslin Center. This specific apartment complex is often considered ‘married housing’ and presumed to be a safe place to live. The predator took disturbing photos of her body and then posted an ad on Craigslist.com. Luckily, the victim was able to escape shortly thereafter.

How can we learn from this girl’s story? Parents, Guardians, Mom and Dad: It’s important to get educated on the topic of human trafficking in the Midwest. Why? Because it can affect your children at any given time!

Ask yourself these questions and see if you can honestly answer the following:

1. “What happens when I do not pay attention to what my child is doing online?”
2. “What phone apps did my kid download on his or her cell phone?”
3. “What social media websites am I familiar with?”
4. “What social media applications does my child use to communicate with friends?”
5. “Is my son or daughter communicating with an older adult who I don’t know? Or, have they ever been contacted by a stranger in the past?”

Talk to your kids about what they do online. You need to be aware of people in your local community because human traffickers are not just men, they are women as well and both have the manipulative desire to kidnap and sexually exploit your teenage boy or girl.

Have you witnessed criminal behavior near or around MSU? Contact the local campus police (517) 355-2221 or complete their online form.

Email Us – SkepticalWorld@gmail.com

Reference:
Detroit Free Press