Zip ties and shopping carts: Myths about sex trafficking make it harder to address real issue

The warning may have popped up on your TikTok or Facebook feed: be wary if you see a zip tie around your car door handle.  

The alarmists posts claiming sex traffickers are putting zip ties on cars to mark potential victims have circulated social media since at least 2019. One post last month warned shoppers at a grocery stores to look out for markings on cars by traffickers. But the claim is a hoax.  

The threat of sex trafficking, which affects millions of people worldwide, is real. But hoaxes and myths such as zip ties on cars give people a false sense the crime , experts said.  

“The person who is going to attempt to sex traffic or labor traffic a person isn't going to put as a zip tie on your car,” said Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University. “They're going to try to befriend you or your children and they're going to build a relationship of trust and then they're going to exploit that person.