22/10/2026
🚨5th EMPACT Hackathon leads to the detection of 51 potential victims.
Experts from 20 countries focused on detecting indicators of human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, and forced criminality online.
🔍Operational results include:
• 51 potential victims of human trafficking identified, all female;
• 6 potential criminal networks identified;
• 5 suspected human traffickers identified;
• 26 online platforms checked (for sexual and labour exploitation, and organ trafficking);
• 77 social network accounts checked;
• 166 entities checked (such as platforms, individuals, usernames, locations, and phone numbers).
Traffickers increasingly exploit the reach of the online environment to approach and profit from vulnerable people.
Fake job offers, misleading recruitment advertisements and promises of high earnings have been identified to conceal exploitative conditions in numerous cases.
Read more: 🔗 https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/5th-empact-hackathon-leads-to-detection-of-51-potential-victims