Some traffickers decline to use the Internet to solicit customers. There are a number of reasons for this. Some are risk averse and realize that advertisements will eventually garner police attention. Other traffickers do not use the Internet because the customers they seek to service are illegal aliens who may not have ready access to the Internet or may not know which Internet sites to use. These traffickers are still able to make substantial profits without utilizing the Internet to advertise their business. Instead, they use other mechanisms to solicit customers.
One method is to drive around to sites where illegal aliens are known to congregate, and inform these potential customers that the traffickers have girls available for sex. Sometimes they even take the victims along to entice customers by letting them have a firsthand look at “the merchandise.” Sometimes eager customers may have commercial sex right in the car, but more commonly they are given a telephone number to call if they are interested in purchasing sex.
Other advertising mechanisms include handing out business cards (typically in the Spanish language), which advertise sporting goods, flowers, plumbing, automobile repair, or some other innocuous occupation. When handing out the cards, however, the potential customer is informed that they should call the telephone number if they want sex. Of course, in the event that the police or some uninformed person