GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan —
It's summer vacation and many students still might be looking for jobs.
A concerned viewer is questioning whether a Facebook post claiming human trafficking rings use summer job signs to lure victims is true.
13 ON YOUR SIDE's Verify Team looked into this shocking claim.
Our experts for this story are Sergeant Cathy Williams with the Grand Rapids Police Department and Troy Baker with the Better Business Bureau serving Western Michigan.
A viewer named Audrey sent us the following message with a link to a Facebook post she saw on her news feed.
"I saw this on my news feed and thought I should share with you to verify that it's an actual danger," Audrey said. "If it is, I definitely think it should be looked into and brought to light so that people are aware, especially with kids out of school for the summer looking for work. Thank you!"
This is the Facebook post that's been shared 27,000 times.
Here’s what Sergeant Williams had to say about what the city has seen.
“Grand Rapids has not personally had any reports of sex trafficking being linked to or started with one of these signs on the poles,” Williams said.
But she said you should still be leery of these signs that don’t offer a business name or web address. Williams doesn’t recommend people call or text the numbers on the signs.
Speaking of the number, the sign has a 616 area code.
Our VERIFY team tried the number and an automated message said it cannot be completed as dialed. Baker with the BBB explains what it’s tied to.
“It's an old phone number that's no longer active," Baker said. "But it was for a business that does door-to-door sales. It's a real business, but it's not something linked to human trafficking as is claimed on the website there.”
So we can VERIFY: There have not been reports to GRPD of sex trafficking linked to these signs, but that doesn't mean you shouldn’t be cautious.
Both Williams and Baker say it’s important to do your research on any potential employer.
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