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Feds warn of rising sextortion of minors; what parents should look for

By FOX 2 News Staff and Connie Rahbany
Published  December 19, 2022 4:44pm EST
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - A national public safety alert was issued today because of an "incremental" increase in financial sextortion – the coercion of kids and teens for explicit photos and extortion for money.

The alert was put out by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in partnership with the FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

"As children enter winter breaks this holiday season, HSI and whole-of-government partners encourage parents and caregivers to engage with kids about sextortion schemes to help prevent them from becoming victims."

Law enforcement has received over 7,000 reports over the past year related to the online financial sextortion of minors, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Those reports resulted in at least 3,000 victims, primarily boys, and more than a dozen suicides.

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"The sexual exploitation of children is a heinous crime. We will continue to exhaust every resource at our disposal to identify and support victims and to locate and apprehend perpetrators to ensure they face justice," said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "We know criminals hide in digital spaces to target their victims – in websites, chat rooms, peer-to-peer trading, and other internet-based platforms. But they cannot evade the dedicated workforce at HSI, where our special agents are leveraging the latest methods and technologies to go after these criminals. We will hold them to account."

ICE says predators target young victims through deception and convince them to produce explicit photos and videos. Once the predator has them, they threaten to send the images out unless the victim sends them a financial payment; money, gift cards, etc.

In many cases, predators will send the images out even if a payment is made according to ICE.

"The shame, fear, and confusion victims feel when they are caught in this cycle often prevents them from asking for help or reporting the abuse."

"The FBI has seen a horrific increase in reports of financial sextortion schemes targeting minor boys – and the fact is that the many victims who are afraid to come forward are not even included in those numbers," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. "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. 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."

Most financial sextortion schemes originate outside the U.S.; primarily in West African countries according to ICE.

"This is a growing crisis and we've seen sextortion completely devastate children and families," said Michelle DeLaune, CEO of the NCMEC. "As the leading nonprofit focused on child protection, we've seen first-hand the rise in these cases worldwide. The best defense against this crime is to talk to your children about what to do if they're targeted online. We want everyone to know help is out there and they're not alone."

Tips from the NCEMC if you or your child fall victim to sextortion:

  • The predator is to blame, not you or your child
  • Get help BEFORE sending payment or complying with the predator (cooperating rarely stops the blackmail and harassment)
  • REPORT the predator's account through the platform's safety feature
  • BLOCK the predator's account and DO NOT DELETE the profile or messages. These can be helpful to law enforcement in identifying the predator and stopping them
  • NCEMC will help get explicit images of you off the internet
  • Visit MissingKids.org/IsYourExplicitContentOutThere to learn how to notify companies yourself or visit cybertipline.org to report to us for help with the process.
  • ASK FOR HELP (this can be a complex problem that might require help from adults or law enforcement)
  • If you don’t feel that you have adults you can ask for help, you can reach out to NCMEC for support at gethelp@ncmec.org or call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.

"The protection of children is a society’s most sacred duty," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. "It calls on each of us to do everything we can to keep kids from harm, including ensuring the threats they face are brought into the light and confronted. Armed with the information in this alert message, parents, caregivers, and children themselves should feel empowered to detect fake identities, take steps to reject any attempt to obtain private material, and if targeted, have a plan to seek help from a trusted adult."

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free tip line at (866)347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock. From outside the United States and Canada, callers should dial (802)872-6199. Hearing-impaired users may call TTY (802)872-6196.

Visit ICE.gov/Sextortion for more information and resources on how to talk to children and to learn how sextortion works.