Fake ads online are addictive
According to A. Lazauskienė, human trafficking often starts on the Internet. Until recently, a human trafficking case reached the court, in which more than 50 persons – girls who were exploited in a strip club for illegal work – were recognized as victims. Most of them were lured into the fraud scheme through an advertisement they saw on the Internet, offering to learn English and attend dance lessons for free.
“According to an advertisement seen on the Internet, the girls who came were recruited in a strip club, and for the ‘free’ lessons they were eventually told to pay a large sum or to work for at least one year. Their wages were not paid, or payments were avoided in other ways, such as fines, and the working conditions were tragic. Some of the victims dared to terminate their employment contracts and left early, but then the bailiffs chased them, demanding even several thousand euros each,” says A. Lazauskienė.
She adds that some of the girls even came back a second time to try to pay – but to no avail. Currently, Caritas is representing 10 victims in this case in court.
The specialist notes that there are other threats related to human trafficking on the Internet. A common case of exploitation involves third-country nationals. “Usually, their recruitment takes place online, through advertisements. The ads promise specific jobs and a high salary. By “hooking” people in this way, they are drawn into the snares of slavery”, says A. Lazauskienė.
Greater threat to youth
According to the expert, logical thinking can help distinguish a real job advertisement from recruitment. It should be assessed whether the visible offer is realistic or not “easy money” being offered. A. Lazauskienė notices that young people fall into such traps more often due to lack of experience.
“Common sense can quickly dictate the answer. It is often difficult to distinguish such ads at first glance, but if there is even the slightest question, the adequacy of the ad should be questioned. Therefore, very often young people are exploited, who more easily give in to provocations and more easily believe in “too good” offers”, observes A. Lazauskienė.
D. Drakick adds that young people, especially children, face other threats online. This is also confirmed by a recent Tele2 study – it turned out that almost 1 in 10 children (8%) and 8 in 10 (78%) adults have encountered an unsafe situation on the Internet. As one of the most common threats children face online, parents identified requests from strangers to send private photos.
“Due to their inexperience on the Internet, children can be more vulnerable to many threats, such as clicking on tempting but harmful links, trusting strangers on social networks and leaking their data, becoming victims of sexual exploitation. That is why it is important to talk to your offspring from an early age about all the threats that occur and how to avoid them,” says D. Drakickas.
D. Drakick emphasizes that critical thinking helps with threats on the Internet, but it is also necessary to protect devices with special Internet protection products.
