WSET.com - ABC13Girls Say Job Posting Could've Led to Sex Trafficking Trade

Reporter: Mark Kelly l Videographer: Parker Slaybaugh

Lynchburg, VA - Nowadays, it's hard enough finding a job. But, a warning now - when you apply for one, be careful. Two Liberty University students, Elyse Klink and Nicole Winter, say they applied for babysitting jobs they saw posted online, and may have come close to being caught up in the sex trafficking trade.

Klink and Winter were smart, though, and realized what was going on before it was too late. But, they can't help wonder what might have happened if they didn't notice the red flags.

Winter and Klink needed some money, so they looked on Craigslist for babysitter jobs. At first, the advertisements looked like normal classified ads.

"'Looking for someone to take care of our three-year-old son. $400 a week.'  Very basic description," said Klink.

Klink applied for the job, but got suspicious when the reply emails from the potential employer became vague. In one email, Klink presses for more information writing, "Before this happens, I would like to discuss hours, as I stated in my previous email." 

For one week, no reply. Then, a text message: a check for $2,750 is waiting for Klink at the post office; she was confused.

"It was a cashier's check from Washington state, the envelope was from Atlanta and the cell phone number area code was from Louisiana. But, they were supposedly from Ontario. And I was like none of this is right," said Klink.

"I was supposed to meet them the next week," said Winter.

Nicole Winter applied for a babysitting job online too. She was even going to meet with the ad's writer the next week. But a warning from Klink stopped her.

"I was just going to go meet them. And I asked them if I could bring a friend. And they ignored me and were like, 'You can trust us,'" said Winter.

Winter and Klink reported what happened to Liberty University Police and say police told them they may have just avoided being kidnapped and forced into the sex trafficking trade.

"It's surreal to think that I could've been sold, or taken, or just been taken advantage of I guess," said Winter.

Elyse Klink says when all this unfolded, she had just returned from a conference that warned about the reality of sex trafficking. We reached out to Liberty University Police, but they did not return our calls.