Over 3,000 minors targeted in financial 'sextortion' schemes in past year, FBI says
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and its partners have issued a national alert about a reported increase in minors being forced to send explicit images online and being extorted for money, also known as financial sextortion.
As part of a partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Homeland Security Investigations, the national public safety alert was issued in response to law enforcement receiving more than 7,000 reports of online sextortion of minors.
This has resulted in at least 3,000 victims, most of whom were boys, and over a dozen suicides.
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U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston encourages parents to be more attentive to what their children are doing online.
"Unbeknownst to many parents, kids get caught on-line, tricked by adult predators into revealing something private or personal, even exposing themselves," said Featherston in a statement Tuesday.
"Then the predator threatens to go public or send the information to the child's parents unless the child sends money or provides other improper photos to the predator. This is electronic extortion and it's a crime that happens frequently."
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Bureau "has seen a horrific increase in reports of financial sextortion schemes targeting minor boys."
"The FBI is here for victims, but we also need parents and caregivers to work with us to prevent this crime before it happens and help children come forward if it does," Wray stated.
"Victims may feel like there is no way out — it is up to all of us to reassure them that they are not in trouble, there is hope, and they are not alone."
The FBI said sextortion often occurs in online environments like social media and gaming sites, where youths usually feel more comfortable.
Online predators have been known to create fake female accounts to target minor males, usually between the ages of 14 to 17, but sometimes even as young as 10, according to the FBI.
For their part, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that, since 2016, its CyberTipline has received over 262,000 reports of "Online Enticement," a category that includes sextortion.
The center also reported that from 2019 to 2021, "the number of reports involving sextortion more than doubled," with the organization imploring children to never "take images of yourself that you wouldn't want everyone to see."
"Talk to a trusted adult or a friend if you receive a revealing image, are being pressured into sending one or have sent one," the center added. "Talk to your friends about being active bystanders by not resharing and saying something if someone else does."
"Do not comply with blackmailing demands such as money or more images."
