International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 2, Spring 2020 | Page 106

Human Trafficking Network Investigations
commonalities between the mapped network nodes. First, within the network, a
vast majority of personas used professionally taken photographs of lingerie models,
which is common in advertisements for illicit commercial-front enterprises.
Given the high cost of professional photo shoots, these images are commonly copied
from original sources and used to entice potential buyers with attractive women
in glamorous settings. Later analysis of the escort agencies’ listings on sex buyer
review forums confirmed that individuals arriving for outcall appointments did
not match the personas featured in the advertisements. This can be considered an
indicator of trafficking for sexual exploitation because of the element of deception
given the false advertisement and the level of organization in transporting multiple
victims to outcall appointments. Second, the image analysis revealed that the
advertisements in this network were frequently manipulated with image altering
software that obscured the facial features of the pictured individuals. Three methods
were used: blurring the eyes or face, covering the eyes or face with emojis, or
obscuring the face with a white spot that mimicked a bright light shining on the
face. Third, the images were also used as another method for conveying contact
information for setting up appointments, featuring superimposed telephone numbers
somewhere in the image. The specifics behind the use and manipulation of
the images provided additional evidence that the advertisements were connected.
Additional analysis led to the identification of travel patterns of personas,
further demonstrating the connection between operations in different cities and
countries, as personas would follow similar route patterns. The pattern flowed as
follows: Sydney, Australia to San Francisco, California to Vancouver, Canada to
Calgary, Canada to Toronto, Canada, then personas dispersed to different cities in
the Midwest and eastern portions of the United States.
Many of the Backpage advertisements featured an embedded hyperlink that
linked to an external website for local outcall escort agencies solely featuring Asian
women. The websites of the assembled network all featured the same basic layout,
content, and site structure, suggesting they might be owned and operated by one
group or an individual webmaster. Most of the network’s Backpage advertisements
linked to an escort agency website solely catering to the advertisement’s listed city;
however, escort agency websites for potential hub cities were sometimes used instead.
These repeated escort agency website locations indicated centralized nodes
in the mapping of the network, which functioned similarly to the designated text
message telephone numbers and two WeChat IDs in fully connecting the reach of
the network. A WHOIS domain registration search was conducted on the escort
agency websites extracted from the Backpage advertisements. The results established
that two individuals owned all of the web domains, in addition to revealing
more escort agency sites, totaling fifty-five websites in the United States, Canada,
and Australia. A registered physical address in Toronto, Canada was also revealed.
Using open web searches, it was discovered that the address was linked to a travel
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