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What are common trafficking tattoos?

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Dollar signs

Dollar signs, money bags, or similar imagery often represent a trafficker’s view of a victim as a source of profit. These designs reduce the person to their financial “value” within the trafficking system.

• Frequently paired with phrases like “money maker” or “pay me” to signal ownership.
• May appear in highly visible areas like the arm or thigh as an advertisement to others in the network

Crowns/Initials

Crowns are often used to mark someone as being under another person’s control or as a “king’s property.” The image suggests power, dominance, and status — reinforcing the trafficker’s control over the victim.

• May appear with initials or names beneath the crown.
• Commonly tattooed on visible areas such as the neck, chest, or wrist

Placement matters

Branding tattoos are often placed where they’re either hard to hide or deeply personal. Tattoos on visible areas, like the neck, wrist, or hands, send a public message of ownership, while tattoos in intimate or private areas, such as the inner thigh or pelvic region, reinforce control and humiliation.

• Visible placements make the person’s exploitation harder to escape or conceal.
• Intimate placements are meant to remind survivors of control and can make tattoo removal or cover-ups emotionally painful.

Barcode

Barcodes, often associated with consumer products, can brand the wearer as a commodity to be bought and sold. It can symbolize ownership as a trafficker considers their victims personal property.

• May include a number or date that carries meaning only to the trafficker, such as a “tracking code” or reference to control.
• Often placed in highly visible areas like the neck, wrist, or forearm to mark the person publicly.

Property of...

Tattoos featuring a trafficker’s name, initials, or alias are among the most common forms of branding, especially paired with the blatant "property of" phrase. They can be presented as a gesture of loyalty or affection, but they often represent coercion and control.

• Traffickers may pressure or force victims to get these tattoos as proof of obedience or belonging.
• The names are sometimes stylized with hearts, crowns, or dollar signs, masking their true intent.

It's important to remember

You're a tattoo artist, you know that any design can just be that: a design without meaning or symbolism beyond its imagery.

However, being aware of these common designs and their uses within the trafficking economy can help you know what to look out for.