Target of alleged Paris kidnapping plot speaks out

Every birthday, Djanaya ticks another dream destination off her bucket list.

It was picture perfect in Paris under the Eiffel Tower until she fell into a trap and claims she was almost human trafficked.

"I genuinely can't believe that I'm actually still living. It can happen anywhere, it can happen to anybody," Djanaya told A Current Affair.

"You hear of these stories happening but you never think it's going to happen to you," her best friend Shon added.

Djanaya is a well travelled young woman and she does it solo.

"I've wasted so many years being like, I don't have anyone to go with, I'll wait, I'll wait, and I was like, I don't have to wait, I can go by myself so every year I pick something for my birthday," Djanaya explained.

“I was like, oh the Eiffel Tower, beautiful, the city of love, turn 29 in Paris, how beautiful.”

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It was seemingly everything Djanaya dreamed of.

"That's all I wanted to do. I just wanted to be around it. It was so beautiful. It's so surreal," Djanaya said.

It felt like a fairytale watching the sun go down and the Eiffel Tower light up as she clocked a handsome, French stranger.

"A guy walked past with his friend and sat just to the left of me. He was stunning, he was beautiful and he caught my eye and he smiled so I smiled back and then that enticed him to come over," Djanaya explained.

"I was like, I'm from Australia so excited to be here. He started asking all the questions of: Are you married? Are you here with anyone? How long are you here for? How long have you been here? Where are you staying?

"He's like, you should come to a party with us, and I was like, oh I don't drink I'm so sorry."

It's something straight out of the movie Taken but this tactic is used in the real world to lure females.

"The lover boy sort of method there so generally what we will see in a human trafficking scenario is that someone often nice on the eye, very nice to the person, and it's sort of a grooming technique," International Law Enforcement Consultant and former UK Detective Anthony Dunkerley told A Current Affair.

"We would have a recruitmant so that's the grooming that we may have seen in this situation, but we also need the transport and moving to somemhere else in order to exploit them.

"And generally globally, what we will see is something like sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, servitude, and even organ removal."

"Could she have been trafficked in that moment?" A Current Affair asked.

"Could she? Well, we've got the first elements there. He asked if they wanted to go to a party, so again, that's with the intention to move her to somewhere else," Anthony Dunkerley replied.

While Djanaya didn't go with the men, she did exchange private information.

"He's like okay, can I have your Instagram? I was like, yeah of course, anyone can have my Instagram. He then said, we should get a photo together," Djanaya explained.

"He lifted me up, pulled me around so the Eiffel Tower was in the background and his friend was just constantly clicking.

"And then I was like, oh no no no I'm actually going to go now and so he walked off, and under the Eiffel Tower there's all people that sell things and he gave him money but he didn't buy anything and then he pointed at me and my heart just sank."

Djanaya knew she needed to get back to her hotel.

"I was like okay, I need to make sure no one's following me but as soon as I got up, the guy he paid got on the phone," Djanaya said.

She went in and out of restaurants trying to lose anyone who may be following her before jumping on a train.

"So the doors were just about to close, the guy that was talking to me at the Eiffel Tower jumps on with his friend, with five other guys and two girls and I just went, this isn't happening," Djanaya told A Current Affair.

"And his friend came up and pointed to me and goes, yep, that's her she's here, so I FaceTimed by best friend straight away and she started freaking out."

Thankfully best friend Shon answered despite being early in the morning in Australia.

"All panic set in because I could see the sheer panic in her face and like tears welling up and I just didn't know what I was meant to do. I'm in a different country. I'm miles away from her," Shon said.

"I just said, make sure you pan around, like show me everyone so I know who's there just in case I have to say here's the description of these people. I don't think it was a coincidence. if the plan was to go to a party, why were you going in the same direction?"

"And she's (Shon) like you need to get off at a really busy station so then I got off at Notre Dame and they all got off with me," Djanaya revealed.

"All of them stood in all different places just looking at me. Shon was like you need to jump on the train but then at the last minute jump off so I lost some of them."

It seemed like a game of cat and mouse.

Djanaya jumped on one last train hoping to lose them.

"And then this other guy got on and sat the closest seat he could to me and just locked eyes and then every stop he just kept turning around and he's like, not this one?" Djanaya recalled.

Then a bystander already on the train asked if she was okay in Spanish.

By chance, Shon speaks some of the language and helped translate.

"We managed to work out, okay, he's a good guy. He said he was a security guard. He said it's all safe," Shon told A Current Affair.

"He was like yeah get off with me, I'm getting off. He then took his massive big security puffer jacket, he took it off, wrapped it around me and pulled me under his arm and he's like, stay close because they will grab you," Djanaya said.

“Both of those guys got off and one stood that side of me (and) one stood a bit over and they were just watching, like just following.”

The off duty security guard then stoof with Djanaya as she ordered an Uber.

"Thank god it actually turned up then I told the Uber what happened and he's like, you're so lucky that you got away, he's like, so many people don't get away from that situation because you would have been out of this country tomorrow or probably tonight," Djanaya said.

Djanaya made it back safely to her Airbnb and went to the Australian Embassy the next day for help.

"Spoke to the lady, she's like, so there's a high chance that you're now on the black market because you got a photo with him. You've got a bounty on your head. We need to get you out of here like, you can't risk it," Djanaya continued.

"I think the embassy have done the right thing in taking in one of their citizens who is clearly distressed and provided a way home as soon as possible," former UK Detective Anthony Dunkerley said.

However Anthony said it's highly unlikely her photos actually ended up on a black market.

"I think it's a bit of a misconception that there's a singluar online deep web black market where pictures are uploaded of people who are going to be trafficked, sold, auctioned or otherwise, that's an incredible rarity and will happen maybe once or twice in an investigator's lifetime," he explained.

"I just know in that moment they wanted something. They wanted to take me," Djanaya said.

"But I haven't let it stop me solo travelling (I'm just) more aware of my surroundings and what could happened."

Djanaya decided to share her story on social media one year after the ordeal to help other travellers stay safe.

"I've just been flooded with inboxes, stories of travelling solo, stories or just instances that are so similar to mine," Djanaya said.

"And if I save one person, I'm happy."