CINCINNATI — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning about a rise in financially-motivated sextortion cases targeting kids and young adults.
In these cases, offenders pressure victims to send sexually explicit material. Once they’ve obtained that material, predators threaten to release it unless the victim provides them money. In some cases, the predator might try to convince the victim they have already obtained this material.
The FBI tracked financial sextortion cases during a six-month period that ended in March 2023. During that time, the agency logged a 20% increase in these cases compared to the same time the year before.
Victims are typically teenage boys between the ages of 14 and 17, but the agency warns any child can become a victim.
Anyone being exploited in this capacity should document the offense, block the offender and request help from law enforcement. Cooperating with offenders rarely stops the harassment, according to the FBI.
Experts urge parents to have conversations with their kids about online safety.
“You need to have conversations with your children about the threat landscape and stranger danger,” said Dr. C. Jordan Howell, a criminology professor at the University of South Florida, who also shares tips for parents on social media. “As such, it's important for parents to stay up to date on the threat landscape.”
It’s a landscape that’s always changing, according to Howell.
“Online grooming or child pedophilia dates back before the internet ever existed,” he said. “However, the internet has obviously allowed for the transmission of abusive imagery against children.”
WCPO spoke with Sgt. Zack Morris, a member of the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crimes Unit, in October about ways to keep kids safe.
“This type of victimization takes place across every single platform,” he said.
Those platforms can include social media apps, online chat rooms and online gaming platforms, Morris said.
Morris urged parents to consider limits on where children have access to devices.
“Are we allowing our kids to take their electronics to bed with them?” Morris said. “Keep them in their rooms? How about having a central location inside the house that's outside of those private areas, like a living room?”
Morris said prevention is key to preventing the consequences of exploitation online.
“If we can prevent one child from taking a picture or video of themselves that's inappropriate and sending it out, then maybe that's one child we can save,” he said.
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