We need to talk about... Sextortion
100 children a day are falling for this scam
Sextortion is a crime that involves adults coercing children and teens into sending explicit images online and it's on the rise across the USA, Australia, UK and Europe. The organised cybercriminals are targeting mostly young boys aged between 10-18 - but girls are targeted too. This is a lucrative scam which traps children into long term extortion rackets.
The criminals pose as young teen girls - and use gaming and social media platforms to target their victims. The tactic is to be friendly, flirty and then demand payment after getting the photos. They use the follower list as a blackmail device - "we will send these pictures to your followers" and repeatedly demand money. Paying up once is never enough.
100,000s are thought to be victims. The nature of this crime means there is mass underreporting. Figures & research from the Network Contagion Research Institute estimate that in USA the number of reported cases in 2024 will be 50,000. For every 1000 targeted, 1 victim will die by suicide.
FBI say more than 20 kids have died by suicide in the USA directly because of the relentless blackmail. These are professional con artists playing mind games with young kids. An inquest in the death of 16 year old Dinal De Alwis, was held last week in South London. Dinal had killed himself after someone, thought to be in Nigeria (cybercriminals known as Yahoo boys) threatened to share two photos of him over Snapchat (report via Daily Mail)
Advice from experts:
First off, tell your children about this scam. Kids aren't idiots - they already know they shouldn't be sending explicit photos of themselves to anyone. It doesn't hurt to remind them or to let them know organised crime gangs are using this tactic to get money.
Tell them if this happens that they can talk to you about it and that they will not be in trouble. They will already know they've been conned and feel ashamed: they need to know they won't be in worse trouble with their parents. Tell them to never pay and that help is available. Let them know they are a victim of a crime.
Other tips: No phones or laptops in bedrooms or bathrooms. No phones over night (get an old school alarm clock?). Check phones - make it a condition of having a phone, especially for your younger teens.
Meta, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat cannot be relied on to improve their safety measures to protect children. While they could be making friends' lists private (Instagram) - they have all simply issued statements about this crime breaking their guidelines. Most of this targeting is happening via Instagram & Snapchat, however gaming devices are also used. TikTok and YouTube were both used to share tips on how best to do this scam.
(Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash)
If you're on LinkedIn, I recommend following Paul Raffile from NCRI.
This video is a really helpful starting point for you No Escape Room
I hope that helps start a conversation with your child. Let me know what you think or tag any parents you think would benefit from knowing about this.
