TRIGGER WARNING: HUMAN TRAFFICKING

I wasn’t going to tweet about this, but after multiple people told me it was a story I should be sharing, I figured some good could come out of it:

After matching with someone on a dating app a couple of nights ago, I immediately received a message from her, saying, “Could I please ask you to listen? I am scared for my life and have reason to suspect my parents are planning to traffick me.”

I sat there for a moment, trying to process the bizarre message and whether or not I should even respond to it. It sounded to me like a scam, but then I thought about how horrible it would be if, by some slight chance, this was a legit cry for help and I did absolutely nothing.

I googled “National Human Trafficking Hotline,” not even knowing if such a hotline existed, and lo and behold, I found http://humantraffickinghotline.org !
I texted the SMS number listed on the website (233733), and told them what happened.

A minute later, someone from the hotline replied, asking me if it was safe to text.

After I thanked them for asking and told them it was, they walked me through questions to ask her in order to get the information the hotline needed to be able to help.

Once I got that information – basic info such as her name, age, and location – they told me to give her the hotline’s phone number (888-373-7888), the hotline's SMS number (233733), and a reference case number for her to provide.

I gave her the numbers, all the while saying to myself, “Please don’t ask me for money, please don’t ask me for money.”

She thanked me and told me she would contact them.

Still, I didn’t know if this was legit or not…until the hotline sent me a message that shook me to my core: “She got in touch with us. Thank you – Great catch! You rock!”

I’m not sharing this story to get praise. I’m sharing it because of how close I was to not responding to her message.

If you receive a message like this, I suggest thinking twice before assuming it’s fake.

At worst, you realize it’s someone trying to con you and you’ve wasted your time. At best, you help someone who is in a horrific situation.

Thanks for reading this thread!
Stay safe everyone!