
AMP (Action, Means, Purpose) Model and Force, Fraud, and Coercion Examples
AMP (Action, Means, Purpose) Model and Force, Fraud, and Coercion Examples
How Trafficking Occurs (The A-M-P Model)
How Trafficking in Persons Occurs
Actions
- Recruiting
- Harboring
- Transporting
- Providing
- Obtaining
- Patronizing, Soliciting, or Advertising a person*
* for sex trafficking only
Means**
Through:
- Force
- Fraud
- Coercion
** Minors induced into commercial sex are TIP victims regardless of whether there is force, fraud, or coercion
For Purpose of
- Forced Labor
- Involuntary Servitude
- Debt Bondage
- Slavery
- Commercial Sex

Force, Fraud, and Coercion: What Does It Look Like?
Traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion to compel victims to perform labor or services or commercial sex acts. Here are some examples of force, fraud, and coercion drawn from actual cases. Please note, these examples do not comprise an all-inclusive list.
Select each card for more information.
Force
Force
- Physical assault such as being hit, kicked, punched, stabbed, strangled, burned, shot, raped
- Confinement such as being locked in a room or closet, handcuffed, tied up, bound, or otherwise physically prevented from moving or leaving a situation
- Drugging a person to incapacitate them
Fraud
Fraud
- False promises of a better job, good pay, new life in the U.S., better circumstances for one’s family
- Use of fraudulent travel documents such as passports or visas
- False advertising
Physical Coercion
Physical Coercion
- Putting a gun to someone’s head
- Holding a person at knifepoint
- Threatening to hit or hurt someone
Psychological Coercion
Psychological Coercion
- Threats or intimidation against the victim or victim’s family, including threats to physically harm a loved one
- Blackmail (such as threatening to release nude photos of a person)
- Threats of deportation or sending someone to jail
- Showing a person a dead body and intimating that if the person doesn’t cooperate they will end up the same way