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!

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