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By Chris Brown

Police agencies seeing increase in social media sextortion cases

Feb 16, 2023 | 3:24 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Police agencies around the world are sounding the alarm about the increase in sextortion cases trying to educate youth and parents in the hope that tragic outcomes can be avoided.

Det. Dean Jacobs of ALERT’s Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation unit says boys 10 to 17 years old are the most frequent target of sextortion that starts after they’ve sent explicit photos or videos.

“Get out some gift cards or get me some cash and that’s basically how it goes and then the panic sets in right,” says Jacobs. “The kids are panicking and worried and so they either send the money or they won’t. But now they’re worried that their images or videos are going to go out to their friends and family. So unfortunately some of these kids in the U.S. have committed suicide. So that’s why this is really important for us is that we don’t want any kids to take their own lives.”

ALERT says that on average the Canadian Centre for Child Protection gets 200 sextortion reports per month through cybertip.ca. Eighty-seven per cent of those affecting boys aged 10 to 17.

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Jacobs says Snapchat and Instagram are the most popular social media platforms perpetrators of sextortion use. He says a lot of instances these days start in Nigeria and the Ivory Coast by people who need funds for whatever they may be up to over there.

He says that when female youth are targeted and coerced into send images and videos that’s often all the perpetrators want. When boys are targeted it’s financially motivated, he says.

Jacobs says to never send any money or gift cards or give out your bank account information.

Learning and teaching online safety is the first step to avoiding becoming a victim of sextortion, says Jacobs.

He urges parents and caregivers to get to know the platforms their kids are using and help them learn the basics of safety such as being leery of strangers who reach out to them and having a good look at their profile.

“A lot of these targets that we have they’re just, it’s a pretty girl and the guy likes the pretty girl,” he says. “But there’s no posts they have maybe two friends on there, right, or they’ll have lots of friends but no posts at all. Those are tells that this is just an account that’s made for something nefarious.”

Parents and caregivers should also create an open line for honest conversations with their kids so they will feel comfortable coming to you before things have gone too far Jacobs says.

If they already have there are things youth and parents should do to help police.

“If it’s already happened then we want screen captures of everything, we want make sure your parents have all the notes and stuff that they can take down what was the chat, get all that chat conversation,” Jacobs says. “We want all that information so we can then follow up with the social media platforms and get the IP address and subscriber information that we’re going to need to move forward.”

Jacobs also wants any kids who find themselves in this situation to know you’re not alone and that if you don’t want to talk to your parents find another trusted adult like a police officer or counsellor or call the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868.

ALERT says that even though financial sextortion is committed virtually, it can have serious impacts offline. Even after the threats and aggression end, victims may feel alone, ashamed and scared, and these feelings can lead to self-harm.

Reach out to a trusted adult, and report what happened through Cybertip.ca or to your local police. By reporting, you can help to keep other teens safe as well.

If you or someone you know is being sextorted:

• Remember, the predator is to blame, not the child;
• Stop all communication with the offender;
• Do not delete your social media account, messages, or images because these can help law enforcement;
• Save a copy of any images you sent, and take screenshots of the messages, including the person’s profile including username;
• Get help before sending money or more images. Cooperating rarely stops the blackmail and harassment, but police can;
• Trust your instincts and practice caution when communicating online.

Anyone with information about any child exploitation situation is asked to contact their local police or to report their concern anonymously at cybertip.ca.