Investigating Human Trafficking Recruitment Online: A Study of Fraudulent Job Offers on Social Media Platforms

In recent years, human traffickers have increasingly relied on social media to target and recruit victims. However, limited research has been conducted on the recruitment methods used for human trafficking on social media, particularly in developing countries. Through in-person and digital observations, interviews, and case analysis, our paper sheds light on the tactics used by traffickers on social media to lure people into trafficking and highlights the characteristics of suspicious job advertisements used for human trafficking recruitment. Our paper also discusses the investigative techniques employed by anti-trafficking experts to address recruitment and the challenges they face when identifying and investigating fraudulent jobs. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations on how technology can help tackle the problem of recruiting people online, and suggest design implications to improve the safety of social media platforms. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges and ethical considerations in developing anti-trafficking software and provide suggestions for addressing these challenges.