By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA–The San Diego FBI is warning parents and caregivers about an increase in incidents involving sextortion of young children.
The FBI is receiving an increasing number of reports of adults posing as young girls coercing young boys through social media to produce sexual images and videos and then extorting money from them.
Sextortion begins when an adult contacts a minor over any online platform used to meet and communicate, such as a game, app, or social media account. In a scheme that has recently become more prevalent, the predator (posing as a young girl) uses deception and manipulation to convince a young male, usually 14 to 17-years-old, to engage in explicit activity over video, which is then secretly recorded by the predator. The predator then reveals that they have made the recordings and attempts to extort the victim for money to prevent them from being posted online.
The coercion of a child by an adult to produce what is considered child sexual abuse material carries heavy penalties, which can include up to a life sentence for the offender. To prevent continued victimization, it is imperative children come forward to someone—a parent, teacher, caregiver, or law enforcement. Children may feel a sense of embarrassment from such a traumatic experience. However, sextortion offenders may have hundreds of victims worldwide, so coming forward to help law enforcement identify, and ultimately apprehend suspects, may prevent additional incidents of sexual exploitation from occurring.
To date, the San Diego FBI has seen an increase of complaints involving boys who were reported victims of sextortion; mostly for money, although others were reportedly sextorted for additional images.
“Children must be mindful of who they are communicating with online, regardless of the game or social media platform,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy. “Education and awareness are key to combating this evolving threat and we want families to take part in these important discussions regarding online safety. Reporting these incidents to law enforcement will help to prevent it from happening to someone else.”
The FBI provides safety tips to protect parents and their children online:
- Be selective about what you share online, especially your personal information and passwords. If your social media accounts are open to everyone, a predator may be able to figure out a lot of information about you or your children.
- Be wary of anyone you encounter for the first time online. Block or ignore messages from strangers.
- Be aware that people can pretend to be anything or anyone online. Videos and photos are not proof that a person is who they claim to be.
- Be suspicious if you meet someone on a game or app and they ask you to start talking to them on a different platform.
- Encourage your children to report suspicious behavior to a trusted adult.
Anyone with information on victims of this crime can contact the local FBI field office at www.fbi.gov, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-the-lost or Cybertipline.org.
Do not delete anything before law enforcement is able to review it, authorities said.
In 2021, the IC3 received over 18,000 sextortion-related complaints, with losses of over $13.6 million.
