New study shows financial sextortion schemes
targeting teen boys on the rise, with organized international
groups behind the surge
LOS
ANGELES, June 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Thorn,
a nonprofit that builds technology to defend children from sexual
abuse, found that financial sextortion is on the rise, primarily
targeting teenage boys.
"Trends in Financial Sextortion: An investigation of sextortion
reports in NCMEC CyberTipline data," a research report conducted by
Thorn in partnership with the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children (NCMEC), highlights several dangerous
trends:
- Reports of sextortion averaged 812 per week from August 2022 to August
2023, with more than two-thirds of the reports involving
financial demands.
- 90% of the victims are boys between 14 and 17.
- Organized, international groups, operating predominantly out of
Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire, are
identified as the main perpetrators.
- 38% of reports containing impact information indicate a payment
was made; however, 27% of these victims reported continued
extortion.
- Of those reports describing specific impacts of the experience,
more than 1 in 6 included mention of self-harm or suicide.
"Financial sextortion represents a grave and growing threat to
children, especially teenage boys," said Julie Cordua, CEO of Thorn. "Unlike traditional
forms of sextortion, these perpetrators demand money, leveraging
fear and the threat of sharing intimate images to extort their
victims before they have time to seek support. For parents, this
new research is a reminder to start conversations with your
children about online risks early to make sure they know how to
recognize a dangerous situation and find help if they feel
threatened. And for our society, it's a reminder of the urgent need
for layered protections to keep our kids safe online."
"This study is critical to better understand how sextortion has
impacted our communities," said Michelle
DeLaune, President and CEO of NCMEC. "In the past year,
we've been inundated with more than 800 sextortion-related reports
per week. These are not just numbers; they represent the harrowing
reality of children coerced and threatened, leaving them feeling
isolated and powerless. By delving deep into NCMEC's data, we learn
the predatory tactics being used against our vulnerable youth.
Armed with this knowledge, we can formulate more effective
strategies in the fight against sextortion."
Sextortion becomes more transactional
The rise in financial sextortion is a departure from past
trends. Historically, sextortion cases frequently involved demands
of a sexual or relational nature, predominantly impacting
girls.
The current wave, however, has indicated an increase in
financial exploitation, with teenage boys becoming the primary
targets. Interactions with perpetrators are often transactional,
and incidents can go from first contact with the victim to payment
in 24 hours or sooner.
How perpetrators execute these schemes on a global
scale
Because financial sextortion is increasingly an organized,
international operation, there are many similarities across
incidents:
- Perpetrators often pose as other teens to reduce young people's
inhibition to connect. They evade platform safeguards that restrict
adult profiles from interacting with children.
- Victims were most likely to share images in response to
catfishing, typically involving the offender first sending what
they claim are their own intimate images. However, in 11% of cases,
children report not having shared images but instead being
threatened with images that were in some way fake or
inauthentic.
- Perpetrators intimidate children with threats to "ruin" the
child's life, such as by making the imagery go viral or face arrest
if they don't pay. The threats are often formulaic, repeated nearly
identically from victim to victim, and intentionally extreme to
manipulate a victim into believing they are better served paying
than seeking help.
- Facebook, Instagram, and Snap were the dominant reporters of
sextortion to NCMEC's CyberTipline; however, data demonstrates
perpetrators are leveraging additional platforms including GChat,
WhatsApp, Telegram, and iMessage to communicate with victims.
- Gift cards and Cash App were the primary methods of
payment.
"Sextortion can be a high-stress situation for children who may
fear reporting the incident or seeking help, but it's important to
remember that the threats are scripted to intimidate, silence, and
isolate their victims," said Cordua. "Paying the perpetrator can
lead to continued harassment. The best course of action in these
situations is to not pay, to report the sextortion to NCMEC, law
enforcement, and the platform where it occurred, and block the
offender."
How to ensure child safety as sextortion evolves
Thorn's research underscores the need for platforms to enhance
their detection and reporting mechanisms to better understand and
track financial sextortion, and for parents and guardians to
discuss the risks with their children and create safe spaces where
children don't fear seeking help.
Thorn offers several resources for doing so, including Thorn for
Parents, which helps parents and caregivers facilitate earlier,
more frequent, and judgment-free conversations with kids about
digital safety. In addition, Thorn's NoFiltr program encourages
healthy and informed conversations directly among youth, equipping
young people with the knowledge to recognize and navigate
potentially risky online experiences.
In addition, if you or someone you know is worried about
intimate images of them as a minor being online, NCMEC's Take It
Down service can help have those images removed.
Read the full report: Trends in Financial Sextortion: An
investigation of sextortion reports in NCMEC CyberTipline data
About Thorn
Thorn is a nonprofit that builds technology to defend children
from sexual abuse. Founded in 2012, the organization creates
products and programs to empower the platforms and people who have
the ability to defend children. Thorn's tools have helped the tech
industry detect and report millions of child sexual abuse files on
the open web, connected investigators and NGOs with critical
information to help them solve cases faster and remove children
from harm, and provided parents and youth with digital safety
resources to prevent abuse. To learn more about Thorn's mission to
defend children from sexual abuse, visit thorn.org.
About The National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is to
help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and
prevent child victimization. For more information about NCMEC,
please visit our website at www.missingkids.org.
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SOURCE Thorn