Who We Are
Skull Games operates on a global scale to identify predators, working tirelessly to protect the vulnerable and break the cycle of abuse for future generations. The Skull Games Task Force utilizes Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) to identify sexual predators and their victims, creating actionable leads that law enforcement can use to interdict the cycle of abuse. Our mission empowers survivors, providing them with the opportunity for a life of hope, healing, and freedom.
Throughout the year, the Task Force offers direct support to law enforcement through small, specialized teams. During periodic events, the Task Force surges, bringing together the collective expertise of vetted volunteers from across the United States. This comprehensive counter-sexual exploitation offensive leverages the experience, capabilities, and resources of our team, working in collaboration with our trusted partners to fight back against human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Task Force Operations in February 2025
- Total Investigative hours supporting LE: 511
- Predators Arrested: 33
- Victims Recovered: 18
Recent Operation Summary:
February was enormously successful for Task Force Operations, with Skull Games providing expert support to multiple high-profile cases. Skull Games supported Law Enforcement Operations in Louisiana and Mississippi, effectively disrupting human trafficking operations.
Louisiana
During the Super Bowl weekend, SGTF supported a major operation in New Orleans, a city that sees an increase in trafficking activity during major events. With large crowds flooding in for events like Mardi Gras or more recently the Super Bowl, traffickers will often attempt to exploit the influx of out-of-town visitors. Major events like the Super Bowl increase demand in the entertainment and hospitality industries, creating what seems like a more profitable environment for traffickers to exploit people and obfuscate their crimes. That’s why additional support from Skull Games can even the odds in counter-trafficking efforts during such times, ensuring that law enforcement can prevent predators from exploiting vulnerable individuals.
The operation in New Orleans was designed to disrupt trafficking rings taking advantage of Super Bowl LIX. Thanks to SGTF’s analytical expertise and real-time OSINT support, law enforcement was able to track and apprehend several predators. The operation resulted in multiple arrests, as well as the rescue of victims who were offered immediate services. Thank you to the Task Force members who supported the event and our dedicated partners in Law Enforcement.
Mississippi
While the Super Bowl was happening in New Orleans, Skull Games also provided vital support to a counter-trafficking operation in Mississippi. This effort resulted in eleven predators being arrested. Four victims were also offered services, ensuring their safety and providing a pathway to recovery.
SGTF also played a key role in a separate, multi-agency operation that took place later in February in Lamar and Forrest Counties, Mississippi. This five-day operation led to the arrest of eight individuals on charges related to prostitution and trafficking. More importantly, the operation rescued seven female victims from exploitation.
In addition to the arrests and rescues, officers seized three firearms and over $1,000 in illicit currency, illustrating the extent of the criminal networks that were being dismantled. The collaboration between agencies, including the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office, Forrest County Sheriff’s Office, and Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control, proved once again the importance of working together in the fight against human trafficking.
These efforts, ranging from high-profile events like the Super Bowl to local operations, demonstrate the broad scope of SGTF’s work. Whether disrupting trafficking rings during large-scale events or executing targeted operations in smaller communities, Skull Games is committed to combating human trafficking at every level.
News & Events
SANS OSINT Summit
Skull Games was highly effective in directly supporting law enforcement partners in February, we also made a significant impact at the SANS OSINT Summit in Crystal City, VA. This annual summit brings together leading security practitioners and investigators to discuss and share techniques and tools for OSINT collection and analysis.
At this year’s summit, SGTF hosted our inaugural Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge, which attracted over 400 participants, both in-person and online. This interactive event, titled “Oppressors Beware. We Hunt Predators,” provided participants with an opportunity to engage in hands-on OSINT challenges, simulating the real-world process of identifying, tracking, and capturing human traffickers.
In the world of cybersecurity and intelligence, Capture the Flag (CTF) events are competitive exercises where participants are tasked with solving puzzles or completing challenges related to gathering, analyzing, and applying intelligence. Typically, these events involve tasks like decrypting messages, finding vulnerabilities, and piecing together clues to identify threats or solve a mystery.
While CTFs are common in cybersecurity, they are also increasingly being adopted by other industries, such as law enforcement, intelligence, and humanitarian organizations. In these contexts, CTFs help sharpen skills that are critical for real-world investigations, including data analysis, pattern recognition, and intelligence gathering. For Skull Games, our CTF challenge not only offered participants the chance to refine their OSINT skills but also focused on our mission: tracking down traffickers and recovering victims.
While the CTF event at the SANS Summit was centered on OSINT for human trafficking, CTFs have far-reaching applications across industries. In cybersecurity, these events are used to train professionals in identifying vulnerabilities in systems, practicing defensive tactics, and sharpening response times during a breach. At their core, CTFs teach participants to think critically, adapt quickly, and collaborate under pressure, skills that are directly transferable to investigating and dismantling human trafficking networks.
The event was a resounding success, with participants testing their skills in a realistic scenario designed to simulate the investigative process that OSINT professionals face in the fight against human trafficking. The feedback from both online and in-person participants was overwhelmingly positive, emphasizing the value of these events in providing real-world experience and building a stronger community of skilled investigators.
Janie Salazar, one of our team members, reflected on the experience, saying, “Participating in Skull Games at the SANS OSINT Summit was an incredibly rewarding experience for me. As a leader at Morningside Analytics, I don’t often get the chance to dive into hands-on investigative work these days. This event allowed me to seamlessly blend my passion for OSINT with my commitment to combating sex trafficking, bridging two worlds that mean a great deal to me! Beyond that, I’m always blown away by the exceptional OSINT skills and investigative talent on display at these gatherings, it’s truly inspiring.”
Janie (right) with our esteemed Director of Intelligence Michal Block (left).
The event not only served as a training ground but also helped create connections between professionals from diverse fields who are united by the common goal of using OSINT for good. For many of the participants, it was an eye-opening experience to see how their specialized skills could be applied to a real-world issue as critical as human trafficking.
One participant, Josh Eichelberger, “It was an honor to join the Skull Games Task Force at the SANS OSINT Summit 2025 CTF. It was a fantastic opportunity to engage my OSINT investigative skills. I’m grateful to have contributed, and I look forward to more Skull Games operations, purpose-driven hunts to expose evil, seek justice, and defend the defenseless.”
Josh, who placed 89th out of 486 competitors, found the experience both challenging and rewarding. His participation underscored how vital it is to continuously sharpen OSINT skills, especially for those in the fight against human trafficking. Each challenge, each task, added to the knowledge base needed to identify and track predators who exploit vulnerable individuals.
The SANS OSINT Summit and the CTF event were more than just a chance for fun and friendly competition. They were a critical part of the ongoing effort to improve OSINT proficiency and build a network of dedicated professionals committed to making the world safer. Every puzzle solved, every challenge completed, contributes to the broader fight against human trafficking. Through events like these, Skull Games continue to empower both seasoned investigators and newcomers to sharpen their skills, stay ahead of traffickers, and remain vigilant in the fight to expose and stop exploitation.
OSINT Tradecraft: Geolocation with Google Lens
At Skull Games, we know that OSINT is a perishable skill that we need to constantly try to strengthen. A great way we do this is by challenging each other in friendly competition. If a Skully goes to an event or goes on vacation, they may send a photo of where they are and challenge the group to geolocate them. So, for this month’s tradecraft lesson I thought I would show you how I used Google Lens to find some of our elusive Task Force members while they were out and about in segment we will call SKULLY VACATION.
Skully Vacation: Wild Bill’s Beach
The first example comes from a task force member we affectionately call “Wild Bill.” Bill had uploaded a photo he took during a beach vacation, wanting to see if we could identify where it was from based on the details in the image. The beach was picturesque, with a vast stretch of sand, clear sky, and some rolling hills. Bill also provided a selfie to show off his muscles, but we will leave that out to protect his secret identity. Here is how I tracked him down step by step.
Exhibit A: Bill’s Beach
Step 1: Google Lens
I uploaded the photo to Google Lens. At first glance, I knew the sand and open sky would not help me get the best results, but Google Lens was able to provide the location immediately without having to zoom in anywhere. I did check to see what gave the location away and it was the ridgeline in the distance. Google Lens identified the location as Florianópolis, Brazil, specifically a beach near Campeche.
I did this on the mobile app, but it is the same on your desktop.
Step 2: Google Maps Street View
This was a promising start, but I need to confirm it’s the correct location and try to find the exact coordinates where Wild Bill had taken the photo. To do this we open Google Maps and go to Campeche, Florianópolis. The overhead imagery doesn’t tell the whole story, but you can use it to narrow down your search.
From what you know already try to find a good starting point. If you know something about your person of interest you can think about advertised places they might be near i.e. accommodations, dining, attractions, etc. Also, use what you know about the terrain from the photo and associate it with the map topography to gain some spatial awareness. In this example we know the orientation of the beach and that there is a forested point with hills a couple of miles away. This gives us a starting point because we know from the map that the picture is oriented south, and we can kind of gauge how far up the beach we should start looking on the ground. Knowing that, we pick a spot on the map we think is close to where the image was taken and open Google Street View.
How to open Street View in mobile app (left) and desktop (right).
The blue dots you see when opening Street View are points where someone took a 360-degree photo. The blue lines are where that weird Google car or whatever filmed going down the whole street. So, I picked a point and started walking virtually down the beach, heading south. I used the familiar landmarks from the picture until I got to the exact spot where the photo was taken. And for a moment I was on vacation in Brazil too.
Skully Vacation 2: Cozumel Cruise
The next challenge came from a senior Task Force member, who had uploaded a photo taken from her cruise ship. The picture showed another cruise ship docked at a pier. I thought the challenge was just to find the geolocation of where the photo was taken, but this test was more challenging at every level. Let’s go through the steps.
A beautiful sunset in, who knows where?
Step 1: Google Lens
In this case I uploaded the image to Google Lens, and the AI was at a loss. There are a huge number of images on the open internet that are of a cruise ship, the sea, and a skyline. Here is where we apply analytical tradecraft by focusing on any unique features of the photo. It’s also important that the feature is not only unique to the vast number of images on the internet but permanent to that location. I had a hunch that the building on the pier was our best bet. Google Lens identified the structure as a shopping mall, on a pier, with unique architecture, only seen Puerta Maya, the cruise terminal in Cozumel, Mexico.
Google Lens allows you to easily zoom in on areas of interest, but you could more tediously get the same result in any other reverse image search by cropping your image to the unique aspect.
Step 2: Google Maps Street View
Once I had the location, I switched to Google Maps and used the Street View function to bounce around from different tourist photo perspectives (blue dots) until I had the correct vantage point of the strip mall. I traced the photo’s perspective until I could clearly see that the picture was taken from the starboard rear deck of our friend’s cruise ship, docked on the north side of the Royal Caribbean dock, with an assessed coordinate 20.4820920, -86.9753091.
Bonus Challenge: Identify the Cruise Ship
Just when I thought I was done, our friend wanted to play some more Skull Games. She wanted to know what cruise ship she was on and where it was currently. The image was from yesterday and the cruise ship was not in the same place. So, we go back to the beginning of the process.
Step 1: Google Lens
Now we are using Google Lens not to find the location but details about her ship. Analyzing the image, we can’t see much, but we do see distinctive red lifeboats on the ship. By zooming in Google Lens on the red lifeboats it immediately updates the AI summary to give us an assessment, Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Step 2: Vessel Trackers
The AI Overview says it’s the Norwegian Escape, but we must be sure. To confirm my theory, I turned to vesselfinder.com, which tracks the Automatic Identification System (AIS) of commercial vessels. This turned out to be the wrong tool for this, because it’s a big ocean with lots of ships. So, I turned to a more tailored solution, which was analyzing cruisemapper.com and cruisetimetables.com, to narrow down that the ship was the Norwegian Getaway based off the time and routes of all Norwegian vessels at sea in the area.
These exercises are more than just fun competitions, they’re a vital part of our training and help us develop the real-world skills needed for investigations. This methodology is effective, for sure, but we also need to practice the OSINT analysis tradecraft common to a variety of tasks. OSINT is about using all available resources to gather information, and sometimes it’s as simple as looking at a picture and digging into the details. Perhaps in later editions we will compare the use cases for different reverse image search platforms based off their strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, by practicing with different tools and techniques, we keep our skills sharp and ready for real-world applications.
Upcoming Events
- TF Expedition XV, NTS Ybor City, Tampa, FL: May 2025
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