It’s a crime that’s evolved with the times.

Street prostitution and trafficking were more open in the early 2000s, he said. But the stereotypical image of women offering sex for payments on corners has changed with the advent of the internet. Now, traffickers set up dates for their victims online, making it harder for officials to investigate.

For years, the FBI could locate 25 to 50 minors a year who they thought were involved in human trafficking in South Jersey, Garrabrant said. That number has decreased in recent years.

Garrabrant described sex traffickers as “incredibly good talkers” and “a step above a con man.” They assess potential victims to see whether they would make good workers and use fear, fraud, force and coercion to control them.

Their victims are vulnerable men and women of all ages, races and incomes, he said, who need basic food and shelter or have substance abuse issues. It becomes difficult for victims to break the cycle of abuse and dependence, he said.

Traffickers usually tightly control their victims, Garrabrant said. He recalled one case in which a woman made $1,000 in a night but had to ask permission from her trafficker to buy a bottle of water.