Online-Based Exploitation

"Online spaces are now primary crime scenes—where recruitment, grooming and control are orchestrated at scale. We help courts understand the digital pathways into exploitation."

– Dr. Grace Robinson

What is Online-Based Exploitation?

  • Exploitation facilitated wholly or partly via digital platforms (social media, gaming, messaging apps, marketplaces).
  • Includes grooming for sexual/criminal exploitation, recruitment for forced labour, sextortion, image-based abuse, doxxing, and tech-enabled coercion.

Who is Affected?

  • Children and adults, including people with additional needs or social isolation. Perpetrators exploit accessibility, anonymity, and rapid contact at scale.

Relationship with Modern Slavery

  • Online methods are enablers across all forms of modern slavery—used for recruitment, surveillance, threats, debt enforcement, and reputational control.

Examples in the UK

  • Young people groomed via encrypted apps into County Lines roles; controllers track locations and issue threats digitally.
  • Adults coerced into sharing sexual images, then extorted for money or compelled into sex work.
  • Workers deceived by fake job ads and “recruiters,” then trapped in debt and labour exploitation.

 

  • Multiple/new social media accounts; hidden/locked chats; sudden changes in online behaviour.
  • GPS/“Find My” tracking by partners/handlers; scripted messaging; fear of device checks.
  • Unexplained deliveries, travel, or cashflows initiated after online contact.

  • Digital recruitment: victims approached via gaming platforms, social media, or dating apps.
  • Hidden grooming: exploiters build trust through anonymity, gifts, or promises of friendship and opportunity.
  • 24-hour access: exploitation continues beyond physical boundaries through messaging and live-streaming.
  • Sextortion and blackmail: threats to share images or information used to force compliance.
  • Remote control: victims directed online to commit offences or perform acts while under surveillance or instruction.
  • Data and image abuse: personal data, photos, or videos shared, traded, or sold without consent.
  • Cross-border element: perpetrators may operate from other countries, complicating detection and safeguarding.
  • Rapid escalation: online grooming can transition to in-person abuse, trafficking, or further exploitation.

  • Preserve digital evidence early: screenshots, metadata, chat exports, call logs, cloud backups.
  • Engage cyber units/digital forensics; map online-to-offline transitions and control tactics.
  • Safety plan for tech abuse (device resets, privacy settings, secure comms); refer to NRM.

  • We examine how digital grooming, threats, doxxing, or extortion directly compelled alleged offending (e.g., drug supply, fraud, sexual offences).
  • For children, we assess exploitation dynamics absent an adult-style “free choice.”

  • Explain platform-specific grooming patterns, coercion scripts, and surveillance/control.
  • Clarify why victims may comply, delay disclosure, or maintain contact with controllers.

  1. Contact us to scope questions.
  2. Confirm timelines and deliverables.
  3. Provide device downloads, OSINT, platform records, comms data, NRM documents.
  4. We review, assess the client, and deliver an admissible report.
  5. Court attendance as needed.

  • Request full digital disclosure (including cloud backups and provider returns).
  • Flag time-critical preservation (platform retention limits).
  • Consider psychologist input where cyber-enabled trauma or shame impedes disclosure.

Founded by Dr Grace Robinson in 2019.

OUR PRIMARY AIM IS TO SUPPORT VICTIMS AND INCREASE AWARENESS OF MODERN SLAVERY.

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