Scary Catfish Story: Organ Trafficking

This scary phenomenon has taken the dark web by storm as many people sell their kidneys illegally in order to make a profit. Many people wonder why someone would want to trust another individual from the dark web to remove their kidneys and donate it to someone else. Usually, the reason why is that these individuals have nowhere else to go and feel like this is the only way to get them out of financially struggling. Scammers know how desperate these people can be, and take advantage of them acting as the “middle-man” and only giving them a small amount of the portions they gain from organ trafficking.

The Demand for Organs and Organ Trafficking

Many people have to wait in long donor queues just to get their hands on an organ they need. Because of this, there is a need for a plethora of organs in order for these patients to survive. Scammers know this, which is why they take advantage of those who need money desperately. According to Live Science, the list of American patients needing an organ transplant is at 122,000 people and continues to grow. A lot of these patients have to wait for years before they find the match they need, and some never do find the match they are looking for.

While vital organs such as heart, lungs, and other vital body parts are hardly harvested, the organ that is the most in-demand is the kidney. This is due to the rise in diabetes in patients throughout the years. Therefore, a lot of the times just the kidneys are stolen since the victim can live with just one kidney.

Scammers know the need for organs and will do anything to get these organs from innocent people. This is why there is such a demand on the black market, and why some hospitals carry the organs from illegal organ harvesting.

How Does the Organ Trafficking Scam Work?

People who are desperately poor and need the funds are convinced by the scammer to give up their organs for a variety of reasons in exchange for money. Sometimes, the scammer convinces the victim that they have an illness and need to get rid of an organ right away. Other times, the scammer tricks the victims with misinformation and tells them how they don’t need that organ to survive. And in the most extreme cases, the scammer will forcefully steal the organ from the victim.

While scammers usually get between $150,000-$200,000 for each job, the victim who gave up the organ only gets $5,000. Some advertisements in China even read that you can get $4,000 and an iPad for donating your kidneys. However, there are some instances where people steal them from funeral homes, by kidnapping people, or from sex traffickers. Some scammers will even go to the lengths of stealing organs from children and selling them on the black market.

According to Big Think, there was a child in China who had his eyes cut out just to have the corneas sold on the black market. In another case, a girl was rescued before she was supposed to give away her organs. Finally, the case that shocked the world was one where a boy was found dead in a school gym due to a “freak accident.” When they performed an autopsy on him, they found him filled with newspaper where his organs were.

According to Daily Mail, the political prisons in China are well known for illegal organ harvesting. They have been known to harvest 11,000 organs illegally each year, then sell the organs to the hospitals.

The victims who gave up their organs most of the time don’t know the health complications that will come with it, since the scammers reassured them that they wouldn’t need the organ to survive. Therefore, most of these victims have to live with severe health complications, doctor’s visits, and treatments that are not worth the $5,000 they got back from donating their vital organs.

What Happens to the Organs After They Have Been Harvested?

The scammers sell them to hospitals around the world, usually in impoverished countries. There have even been some United States hospitals that have been caught with organs from victims of illegal organ trafficking. According to Big Think, Scherper-Hughes, a medical anthropology professor at UC Berkely and co-founder and director of Organs Watch, has posed as a doctor at hospitals all around the world to see who was using organs from illegal harvesting.

What she found was shocking… she found hospitals in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia that have used these organs for their patients. She has stated that even the top hospitals here have been caught with organs from trafficking victims. She had to show these doctors a 60-page report just to show them the process of where these organs came from!

Social Catfish is Here to Help You!

If you’re talking to someone who seems shady and might be a part of the black market and organ trafficking industry, Social Catfish is here to help you find their identity. All you need to do is perform a reverse search with their name, email address, phone number, social media username, or image to see who it is you’ve really been talking to.

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