Red flag #1 – overpromising<\/h2>\n
You\u2019re probably not the type of person to fall for the bandit signs on the side of the road that promise travel, a fancy car, clothing budgets, and high pay, but no experience is required (and all you have is a phone number to call). But your child or niece\/nephew might\u2026 <\/p>\n
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What all of these signs have in common is that they offer a lure but no details. <\/p>\n
These signs or shady online ads often use female names to appear more trustworthy, and require you to text them (you won\u2019t hear their voice because it\u2019s not a polished receptionist, it\u2019s a scary sex trafficker). <\/p>\n
If you can\u2019t get any details in advance of inadvertently giving someone your phone number by texting or calling, it may not be safe – don\u2019t call\/text. It\u2019s not worth it.<\/p>\n
If they tell you to check out their Instagram account and it\u2019s just pictures of someone\u2019s unidentifiable hands holding wads of cash, that\u2019s a common method to appear legitimate<\/a> (\u201cbut look how much money they<\/em> made!\u201d) but it\u2019s a common ingredient in scams of all sorts, including trafficking. <\/p>\n If a company that you\u2019re inquiring about (online or via a sign) doesn\u2019t ask you any questions, you may be in danger. <\/p>\n All legitimate businesses will want to review your professional experience, even if you\u2019re applying for entry level work. They\u2019ll care if you\u2019re in their industry or interested<\/em> in their industry. <\/p>\n If there is no way to apply online, or nowhere to email your resume, and they get angry with you for asking, it\u2019s not a legitimate opportunity (sex trafficking or otherwise). <\/p>\n If they jump immediately to an interview after you text \u201cI\u2019m interested,\u201d that\u2019s not how normal businesses operate. Legitimate businesses can\u2019t interview everyone that is interested, it\u2019s not logistically possible. That\u2019s a big red flag. <\/p>\n If you can\u2019t even tell what industry it\u2019s in or what the position is, the best<\/em> choice is to not even contact them. <\/p>\n Don\u2019t overreact to personal questions, sometimes traditional employers ask them, but do run if someone asks questions about your body or how you would react in certain sexual situations. Even if the interviewer is a well dressed older woman – many tricks and disguises will be used to lure ou in.<\/p>\n Small businesses will often interview you in a Starbucks, and that\u2019s totally legitimate. <\/p>\n But if you have ignored the first two red flags and found yourself lining up an interview, look at Google Maps before you head that way. <\/p>\n Some online advertisers will say that you\u2019re such an interesting candidate that the boss wants to meet you personally at his home. <\/p>\n That is not normal. You should never go, even if the boss is well known. <\/p>\n But in the case of sex trafficking, you won\u2019t have the real name of a person, and if the interview location is a run down, dilapidated house, you\u2019re going to end up in a trunk. Sometimes it will even be in a decent looking house, but that\u2019s still not normal and they could be renting it online for the day to appear more upstanding. <\/p>\n If you look on Google Maps and it\u2019s in an abandoned strip mall that you know hasn\u2019t had any open companies in a decade, that\u2019s another terrible sign of danger.<\/p>\n All interviews should be at a company\u2019s offices, or in a very public place like a Starbucks. And even if the interview goes well and the interviewer wants you to immediately go to a private location, never ever ever do that. <\/p>\n If you have a WeWork or coworking space in your city, if you aren\u2019t totally sure about a lone interviewer or their chosen location, tell them you cowork there and you\u2019d be happy to meet there in public, in the bright lights (you can buy a day pass if they say yes). If they\u2019re unwilling to meet in a public space, run.<\/p>\n Lastly on this red flag, if you end up meeting at Starbucks and it doesn\u2019t go well, your gut says you\u2019re in danger, or you rejected their offer to immediately go to their house to continue the interview, don\u2019t leave first. Stay put, lie, say you have another meeting there in a few minutes, and let them leave first so they can\u2019t follow you to your car. Watch them drive away. And if your gut still says you\u2019re in danger, tell an employee that you\u2019re going to your car and ask if they\u2019d make sure you got there and the creepy interviewer doesn\u2019t get you (that\u2019ll get their attention). <\/p>\n Safety first. <\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve found yourself answering a shady ad that you didn\u2019t know was shady. They say it\u2019s all remote, so you don\u2019t have to meet anyone in person. So far, so good. <\/p>\n Maybe they promised that you\u2019ll do a ton of fancy international travel, and their headquarters are in another nation, so the contract is in another language, but they tell you what it says so you sign anyways. <\/p>\n Wrong. If an employment contract is in another language, you truly have no idea what you\u2019re signing to – don\u2019t do it. <\/p>\n But that\u2019s not the only part of this red flag. In this scenario, sex traffickers will have you take the contract to a local who will translate it for you, answer all of your questions, and help you through the process by holding your hand. <\/p>\n They\u2019re remote too, so you\u2019ll have to go to their house, but they assure you the person is your same gender, and you\u2019re not in any danger, they\u2019ve helped hundreds of people and just want to help you. <\/p>\n If you go to that house for \u201chelp,\u201d you\u2019ll likely end up victimized. <\/p>\n This red flag is applicable to a number of scams, not just human sex trafficking. If you are required to pay money up front before getting a job (for tools, training, or inventory), you\u2019re either joining a scam, a MLM scheme, or being stolen from. That\u2019s not normal for a traditional full time opportunity.<\/p>\n On the other end of the spectrum, traffickers that are Promisers try to gain your trust, so without meeting you, they may mail you a check as a sign on bonus (you were smart enough to reject giving them your bank account information for direct deposit which is a common way to scam people out of money).<\/p>\n You\u2019ll put the check in the bank, it\u2019ll sit there for a few days while it clears, but meanwhile they\u2019ve gained your trust and start working toward meeting you in person and fast forwarding the trafficking process. <\/p>\n The check isn\u2019t going to clear, but now they have your home address, likely your phone number, name, and if you were tricked into filling out an application, they have your Social Security Number. <\/p>\n Your identity could be stolen and sold, or worse, it could be used to track you down and find you in person, knowing how vulnerable you are since you missed all of the previous red flags. <\/p>\n So maybe you\u2019re a really smart person and you\u2019ve avoided all of the red flags.<\/p>\n Maybe you just saw a simple Craigslist ad that didn\u2019t provide a company name, but the opportunity sounds legit, so you email through their relay system to avoid giving your real email address. You ask for details. Smart. <\/p>\n In most cases, they\u2019re smaller businesses avoiding being bombarded by desperate third party recruiting firms, so they keep their name off of the ad. Those folks will tell you their website, who they are, and any information you\u2019re seeking. <\/p>\n Do your homework. Find them on Glassdoor, Google around. <\/p>\n If they don\u2019t have a website, maybe they\u2019re just getting started, but the founders should at least be on LinkedIn and have real people they\u2019re connected to (which is still no guarantee of legitimacy. If there\u2019s no mention of them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or even Google, ask for more information. <\/p>\n If someone gets angry at your inquiries, or refuses to answer, they\u2019re either illegitimate, or they\u2019re looking for victims. Either way, it\u2019s not worth it, stay away. <\/p>\n Although it should be number one, the final red flag is that if your gut tells you any part of the process is off, trust your intuition. <\/p>\nRed flag #2 – they don\u2019t ask you questions or give info<\/h2>\n
Red flag #3 – the interview is in a weird place<\/h2>\n
Red flag #4 – weird contracts<\/h2>\n
Red flag #5 – money flows oddly<\/h2>\n
Red flag #6 – the company is a mystery<\/h2>\n
Red flag #7 – your gut says it\u2019s dangerous<\/h2>\n
We\u2019ve experienced it<\/h2>\n