Webscraping as an Investigation Tool to Identify Potential Human Trafficking Operations in Romania

Abstract

Information communication technology has enabled criminals to remain distant from the crimes they commit with reduced risk. However, by moving this underground criminal activity online, digital evidence of communication with members of the crime group, and also victims, presents an interesting research opportunity into human trafficking and may reveal actionable information for law enforcement agencies. Specifically, this research paper investigates whether a webscraping tool could be employed to gather intelligence on organized crime groups at the recruitment stage of the trafficking operation as a means to understand their modus operandi. Preliminary findings presented in this paper indicate that the UK is a popular destination country for job advertisements hosted in Romania and further analysis will be undertaken to identify if there are in fact indicators of trafficking evident in these identified websites.