A Southern California man’s seek for work on Craigslist almost was a nightmare when what appeared like a legit aged care gig was a possible trafficking or mule scheme.

The operation, which was full with what seemed to be a pretend affected person, somebody dressed as a nurse, and a few clean, “sealed” paperwork, illustrates how criminals are exploiting job seekers in a difficult economic system.

The video, which has over 1.3 million views, particulars a case including to a listing of criminals concentrating on individuals who may very well be determined sufficient to probably overlook pink flags whereas luring them towards the Mexican border, or into criminal activity.

Southern California Man Finds Job Ad On Craigslist

A TikToker with the deal with @crenteria, who just lately returned to California, had been searching for work. He discovered a Craigslist itemizing for a driver gig. “I find one for an old lady who supposedly has Parkinson’s. She needs a driver because she can’t drive herself, so they’re offering to pay me to drive her to her daily things and whatever she needs,” he says.

After texting the itemizing to inquire, Renteria obtained a name. “They inform me, ‘Hey, we want to set this up with you. Can you drive?’” he recalls. They also ask him if he has an driver’s license, two further types of I.D., and entry to a automobile. When they requested him to drive to San Diego to select up the lady and produce her again to Riverside, he agreed. “I’m free today. I got some time, so I’ll go ahead and do it.”

To be clear, the drive to San Diego is roughly an hour-and-a-half, should you’re actually transferring and visitors is exceptionally favorable. At greatest, the back-and-forth alone could be three hours.

In San Diego, he met with a person wearing a nurse’s outfit, sporting gloves, and an older girl with a masks, presumably to guard in opposition to COVID or the flu. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, so this is the deal. You’re gonna take her home. You’re gonna take her to wherever she needs to go for her stuff, and we’ll pay you. Let me give you some money for gas. What’s your Cash App?’” Renteria says.

Was This Craigslist Job Ad a Human Trafficking Scheme?

Then the scenario modified. “He’s like, ‘Here’s actually some paperwork we’re gonna give you, and you gotta take this to our other doctor because he needs this for her to finish the treatment,’” Renteria says. “He’s like, ‘Here’s the address. It’s gonna tell you you’re going across the border. You’re not. Don’t worry, you’re not going across the border, I promise you.’”

Renteria turned suspicious. “I’m over here like, ‘No, this does not seem right. Like at all, dude. This is really suspicious.’ But obviously, I don’t want to raise any alarms because I don’t know these people,” he says.

He took the manila folder they gave him. “Inside the manila folder there’s another manila folder that is sealed closed. And I’m like, ‘OK, this is really weird,’” Renteria says.

After leaving, he opened it. “It’s blank papers. Blank pages. Nothing on it,” he says.

At this level, he had an thought of what the actual plan was. “They wanted me to go to [Tijuana, Mexico]. They made sure I had two forms of I.D. so I could cross the border. And they sent me the address. I checked it—it’s some sketchy-ass warehouse. Oh, hell no. I booked it. I booked it out of there.”

He stated he tried calling native police, however “they didn’t really care.”

Viewers React to the Human Trafficking Near-Miss

One commenter stated, “The warehouse SCREAMS organ harvesting.” A second individual agreed, “Organ harvesting and trafficking are a real thing.” A 3rd individual stated they know this from private expertise. “My cousin got surgery in Mexico to remove weight and extra skin, three months later she went to the doctor and they did some exams on her and realized she was missing a lung,” they wrote.

In a follow-up video, Renteria clarified a number of particulars after his first video went viral. “Everything’s been reported to the proper authorities, so don’t worry about that, and they have all the evidence that I had sent to them,” he reveals.

Of the lady, he says, “She was 100% in on it. Because when I called her and I was talking to them before I even went down to San Diego to meet with them, she was like, ‘Bring your two forms of I.D.’ And when I told her I have my I.D.s and whatnot, she’s like, ‘Oh, or a passport.’ So, you know, thinking back now, obviously that was a red flag.”

What Did the Alleged Assailants Look Like?

He described the scammers as showing to be American residents. “One of them was a Black dude, big, buff, looked like Scarface, man. He had a freaking scar on his face. The other chick was an older lady with a mask on, and they looked like U.S. citizens,” he says.

The man wore gloves when handing over paperwork—”no fingerprints, proper? Can’t be traced again to him.” He checked out Renteria’s license briefly, and “that license is from Utah. It has my old address on it. It doesn’t even have my new information.”

He says the scammers by no means acquired close to his automobile. “I was standing here next to the curb, next to my car. They were on the sidewalk, and we exchanged pleasantries. They were giving their shtick that they give to people, probably the thing that they’ve rehearsed a hundred times.”

He reiterated that papers contained in the sealed envelope have been utterly clean. “Obviously, the police are gonna have them for evidence and whatnot, FBI or whoever the heck wants to take it. I think it was just part of their thing to, like, you know, ‘paperwork you have to deliver,’ and that’s why it was sealed so that you can’t see blank papers.”

How He Foiled the Human Trafficking Attempt

He believes his informal demeanor in all probability saved him. “I honestly think the only way I got out of there is because I was so inconspicuous about it. I didn’t act like I was suspicious of them or anything.”

The itemizing was on Craigslist, which maybe additional particulars the issue of the stagnant “low hire, low fire” job market. “Yes, I’ve gotten jobs through Craigslist before, so that’s why I didn’t really think anything of it,” he says.

He provides, “These people looked like they were the nicest people and totally chill. They did not look like they would have been criminals, and they didn’t act like it either. I stared those evil [expletives] right in the face and I didn’t even know. So be careful.”

Craigslist Ads Leading to Human Trafficking

There are tales of human smuggling circumstances coming from Craigslist adverts. One from 2023 particulars a 42-year-old Houston-area man arrested after responding to an advert, then driving from Houston to Eagle Pass on the border to select up immigrants.

Another operation is the recruitment of “blind mules,” or unwitting drivers as couriers for cartels, exploiting their lack of nervousness at border crossings. There have been tales of ladies connecting Craigslist to their trafficking, together with one forced into prostitution at age 11 and one other trafficked from age 12 to 18,sex-trafficking/” goal=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”> per a Seattle Times exposé.

While there have been no credible tales of Craigslist being related on to organ harvesting, the United Nations stated that “men make up 82% of the victims of organ trafficking.”

All hip hop reached out to Renteria through TikTook.

@crenteria019 I nearly acquired trafficked…… #storytime #fyp #warning music/original-sound-7556799838650682142?refer=embed”>♬ authentic sound – 𝕮𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆𖣂🖤✝️

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