Modern day grave robbers are using emojis and codewords to secretly trade real human bones

The online trade in human remains is flourishing due to legal loopholes, experts say. Photograph: Christian Mang/Reuters

A modern form of “grave robbery” is flourishing online, experts say, as bone collectors exploit legal loopholes to buy and sell human remains.

In Australia, where it is illegal to buy or sell human remains (albeit with some exceptions), people sell photographs of the remains then add the bones as a “gift”.