According to the Department of Homeland Security, “Sextortion — the act of threatening to share nude or explicit images — is becoming more common, even increasing exponentially in the past two years.” It is especially important for the parents, coaches, and educators of teen boys to be aware. “One current sextortion trend targets boys between 14 and 17 years old. Adult predators pretending to be young girls feign romantic interest in the boys on gaming platforms, apps and social media sites.”
Check out the 2-minute videos on this page to see a scenario showing how skilled the perpetrators of these schemes truly are.
What to do:
- Watch the short videos and show them to the boys you care about. Talk about the scenario and how the scheme played out over days, but it can happen even more quickly in the course of a couple hours.
- Open lines of communication are the best defense against sextortion. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to have conversations with their children early on regarding their online activity. Keep the door open. Let them know they can come to you and ask for help and that helping will always be your top priority.
- Sextortion is illegal. If you or someone you know is a victim, help is available. NCMEC’s CyberTipline gives the public and electronic service providers the ability to report suspected child sexual exploitation, including sextortion and online enticement. After NCMEC completes its review of a tip it receives, it compiles a report that becomes available to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.