We Are Looking: Using OSINT to Expose Human Trafficking
When you see “We Are Looking” on a billboard, you might picture watchful eyes scanning a crowd. And that’s part of it. But the fight against human trafficking today also happens in a place you can’t see—behind screens, in the digital spaces traffickers think are safe.
Human trafficking is a $9.8 billion/year industry in the United States—fueled by exploitation, hidden in plain sight, and evolving constantly. At Guardian Group, we’re fighting back with technology, utilizing skilled analysts and one powerful principle: We won’t stop looking.
The Digital Battlefield: OSINT and Technical Evidence
Traffickers rely on the internet to advertise, recruit, control, and exploit. What they don’t count on is that the same digital footprint they leave behind can be used to expose them.
OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) and technical evidence are turning the tide:
Escort Ads: Traffickers post ads, think Craigslist but for people, on various sites across the internet. 150,000 new ads are posted online in America every single day. This is not the deep dark web, which means our civilian analysts can comb ads looking for indicators of trafficking.
Social Media: Traffickers use social media platforms to recruit and groom their victims. Often, victim profiles begin to show indicators that someone else is in control of their life. Our team uses OSINT and the Publicly Available Information contained on these profiles to put a true identity to the individuals being sold.
Patterns: Analysts that work in a region become subject matter experts of the trafficking in that area, allowing them to identify patterns. This gives law enforcement a leg up in the fight to stop trafficking in their communities.
This isn’t just theory. It’s working—real-time victim identification is happening because of these methods. With the right support, it can scale even further.
How Guardian Group Uses These Skills to Disrupt Trafficking
Our team is made up of highly skilled analysts who use OSINT to:
1. Proactively identify potential victims of sex trafficking online
2. Provide validated information to law enforcement, helping investigations start stronger and move faster
3. Support the case process by offering technical starting points that can strengthen cases—reducing the need for survivors to testify when possible
In a fight this large, speed, accuracy, and visibility matter. OSINT gives us all three.
Why Your Support Matters
This kind of analytical work takes skill, precision, and funding. Guardian Group provides these services at no cost to law enforcement so they can act quickly without budget roadblocks.
When you donate to Guardian Group, you’re not just giving to a cause. You’re fueling a mission that’s changing lives with every search, every scan, and every click.
Traffickers are using technology to exploit. We’re using it to expose.
Donate Now – Help us keep looking.
Special thanks to Lamar Advertising for donating the billboard space that launched this conversation. Your generosity is helping drive awareness and action in the fight against trafficking.