One TikTok user asked other people to be vigilant after noticing an addition to his daughter’s car.
The father got more than 26 million insights for a post showing a zippered accessory in the vehicle.
He said: “I didn’t know what it was, I kept cutting it.
“This morning, when I found out, I walked in and asked him, I said, ‘What about the zippered link in the back passenger seat that looks after each and every morning?For 3 mornings, I’ve been cutting that. ‘
“She said, ‘Dad, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t know I had a zipper. “
It’s not clear that a sex trafficking gang would use the approach recommended in the viral TikTok clip.
This, the user said, generated an alarm that was not “confirmed” until he spoke with his brother, who works in law enforcement.
“I discussed [the flanges] incredibly quiet,” he explained.
“[He said] that sex traffickers and other people looking to borrow from the most commonly vulnerable women put this in a car somewhere where they don’t notice it easily. . . But other people who fly know exactly what that means. “
The idea is that criminals will mark a car in a way known to other people who want to harm them.
“We need to let them know that this user is vulnerable, that they are alone,” he added.
Commentators were quick to thank him for his advice, but it’s unclear if the appearance of the zippered tie is anything more than a joke.
Automobiles Illustrated, an automotive expert, said the appearance of zippered links on the door is “probably just an innocent joke. “
Urban legends have warned that criminals put zippers on doors for them to try to remove, making them vulnerable to attack.
Despite the idea, there seem to be reports of this tactic used by criminals to harm people.
The University of Maryland’s Safe Center for Human Trafficking Survivors said recruitment strategies through sex trafficking gangs tend to focus online or through a grooming process.
The father warned other people to be vigilant, but that zippered closures should necessarily be used as a marker of choice through a destructive person.
He added: “If there are teenage women who drive late at night, check your car every morning. Find a black tie or anything that stands out and remove it immediately. “
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