Oddbean

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 @b65192d2 they're not necessarily wrong about this one, actually. It's an old trick - put something noticeable but tricky to remove on a car, and the owner stops to wonder about / remove it, just long enough to grab them.

I expect it's more likely for handbag theft than trafficking, but that doesn't really make it any more acceptable.

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 @46281ca2 I'm open to the possibility that there's *some* kind of nefarious thing going on. The most plausible explanation I've heard is that it's simply a way for a burglar to monitor if somebody is out of town. If they remove the tape, they're home. But no exaggeration, half the comments were telling this woman that her teenage daughter has been targeted for kidnapping into sex slavery and she needs to call the police immediately.

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 @b65192d2 both do happen, sadly. But by the time somebody is old enough to drive, I imagine they're too old for trafficking, so the car attachment trick does seem out of place there. Much more likely for theft than abduction.

In the UK, they're abducted pre/early teen and/or coerced into drug addiction when they're still naive and impressionable. Once hooked, they'll agree to anything for another hit, and their dependence makes them less likely to run too.

I hate that i know this 😔

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 @46281ca2 Oy… as payment to mules bringing undocumented immigrants? Of course. Coercing runaways? Yeah, that too. Handed over by monstrous family members? It happens! Randomly swiped off the streets of suburban neighborhoods? C’mon. People keep saying this is a thing and not a single person yet has been able to point to an instance of it happening. I mean, I’m sure there’s an example or two. There always is. But the trafficking van patrolling the ‘burbs is paranoid fantasy.