The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a national public safety alert Monday warning Americans about an “explosion” in “sextortion” schemes targeting minors.
Financial sextortion is a crime where children and teenagers are “coerced into sending explicit images online and extorted for money,” the FBI said in a press release.
FBI and Partners Issue National Public Safety Alert on Financial Sextortion Schemes. Read more: https://t.co/wJb2dlE7tx
— FBI (@FBI) December 19, 2022
The FBI has recorded 7,000 complaints and at least 3,000 victims of online sextortion, primarily 14-17 year old males targeted by fake female accounts on social media sites and other chat rooms.
The schemes typically originate outside of the United States, particularly in West African countries such as Nigeria and Ivory Coast, the FBI specified in the press release. (RELATED: 11 People Seriously Injured On Turbulent Hawaiian Airlines Flight)
“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,” Wray added.
Victims of financial sextortion online have been as young as 10 years old and the schemes have led to at least a dozen suicides, the FBI said.
The victims were deceived into sending an explicit photo or video to the predator who threatened to release the image unless the victims sent a payment, according to the FBI. In many cases the images were released anyway, exacerbating the shame and confusion of victims.