SAN FRANCISCO - The FBI on Tuesday warned of an alarming increase in what’s known as online sextortion, targeted at minors here in the Bay Area and across the country.
Federal investigators said that the scheme involved offenders deceiving and manipulating young victims to create and then send sexually explicit images or video.
"The FBI wants to warn parents, educators, caregivers, and children about the dangers of online activity that may lead to the solicitation and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual acts," the agency said.
Investigators described different motivations behind the crime. Offenders seeking sexual gratification threaten to release the compromising material unless the victim produces more.
Then there are those driven by financial gain. After manipulating victims to send in the images, the criminal then threatens to release the material, unless they pay them, often through difficult-to-trace forms of payments like gift cards, mobile payments, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency, according to the FBI.
"Victims are typically males between the ages of 14 to 17, but any child can become a victim," investigators said.
In the cases motivated by money, offenders were usually from outside the U.S., agents said, adding that many originated in western African countries, such as Nigeria and Ivory Coast, or Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines.
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For many victims, who feel trapped and ashamed, the situation can lead to self harm, and even suicide, investigators said.
The FBI said from October 2021 to March 2023, federal authorities received more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion targeting minors. "The sextortion involved at least 12,600 victims, primarily boys, and led to at least 20 suicides." the agency said.
And federal figures showed the cases were becoming more prevalent.
There was at least a 20% increase in financially motivated sextortion reports involving minors, from October 2022 to March 2023, compared to the same period the previous year.
Investigators urged parents and caretakers to be vigilant and to take steps to educate and protect children.
"We’ve seen an alarming increase in financial extortion schemes targeting children not only in the Bay Area, but across the country." the FBI said. "Parents, educators, and caregivers need to be aware of this increasingly urgent threat and empower victims to come forward."