Aidan, An OSINT-Powered Activist Against Human Trafficking
On any given day, there are an estimated 50 million people in modern slavery.
The most common form by a significant margin is trafficking for sexual exploitation - and almost 20% of all victims are children. OSINT Industries has been providing our platform to Aidan R., an activist and former program manager for the Traverse Project, a charity which aims to break open human-trafficking networks and prosecute those profiting from exploitation.
Aidan R., a dedicated anti-trafficking activist, reached out to speak to us. Aidan entered the OSINT world several years ago, during investigations into digital crimes and phishing. His success led to the exposure of an organised crime group in the Dominican Republic, which inspired him to begin building tools for cyber security.
Moving on to expose human trafficking networks, Aidan says he relies on OSINT Industries for his vital work. He also detailed the (sometimes humorous) ways in which OSINT Industries has assisted his personal investigations too.
OSINT Against Human Trafficking
Aidan provided an example case where OSINT Industries had been indispensable in his personal battle against human trafficking.
During one investigation, Aidan was working alongside volunteers at Traverse Project on behalf of a human trafficking victim. The victim was a child, trafficked by their own family. These guilty family members were proving difficult to trace - so Aidan turned to OSINT Industries for help.
OSINT Industries revealed a variety of profiles: VK, Telegram, Facebook, and iCloud, as well as first and last names and partial Apple email addresses.
Continuing to follow the trail set by a Telegram profile, Aidan discovered 17 other accounts which proved instrumental in massively expanding Traverse Project’s investigation to bring this family to justice.
Personal Investigations
Aidan shared another, more lighthearted story of his success with OSINT Industries.
On one occasion, Aidan was looking into a scammer who had stolen $4000 from an acquaintance.
Running the scammer’s email through OSINT Industries revealed several accounts, including a Strava account. Luckily for Aidan, the scammer had created a joke Strava journey through his own apartment - from his “bedroom to the kitchen”.
This gave away the scammer’s address, allowing his victim to file a lawsuit.
OSINT Industries - a “Force Multiplier”
Traverse Project - taking advantage of our platform’s provision for non-profits - uses OSINT Industries as an enrichment tool.
Now, it’s Aidan’s first step.
When Aidan finds new email addresses for suspected traffickers online, he puts them into OSINT Industries to expand investigations. Our frequent addition of new modules ensures that, in Aidan’s opinion, our platform remains more useful than similar providers.
Aidan borrows a term from military science to label OSINT Industries his investigative “force multiplier”, thanks to the sheer quantity of data he gains access to.
To find out more about Aidan R.'s work, visit:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/devaidan/
To find out more about Traverse Project’s work, visit:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/traverse-project
https://www.facebook.com/traverseproject/
