Cross-border investigation: online sexual exploitation platforms targeted in Interpol operation involving Romania
Eight states, including Romania, collaborated in a coordinated action by Interpol and the OSCE that uncovered dozens of cases of human trafficking through digital networks.
Cross-border investigation: online sexual exploitation platforms targeted in Interpol operation involving Romania
Law enforcement from seven European countries, alongside Romanian officers, participated in a joint action organised by Interpol and the OSCE against networks that recruit and exploit victims through the internet. The initiative, conducted in the form of a four-day digital marathon in May, targeted platforms with subscription-based content.
The investigation results were significant: 34 suspicious situations were discovered, 18 identities of possible perpetrators and 27 persons who could be victims. An online communication group used for this purpose hosted approximately 28,000 advertisements featuring young women presented as models. Payments were made through virtual currency and graphic symbols convertible into digital money.
The modus operandi of the offenders involves the creation of false modelling agencies, through which victims are lured with promises of substantial earnings. Subsequently, the perpetrators take control of their online accounts, appropriating most of the profits, whilst exercising psychological pressure on them to compel them to create increasingly degrading material. The price of a private clip reached three American dollars for a 25-minute interval.
Specialists from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Romania contributed to the action. Among the particularly concerning aspects identified were the use of artificial intelligence for fake accounts, as well as the fact that a large proportion of the advertisements came from South America, an area identified as the main recruitment source.
Source: Ziare.com
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)