When one of our summer interns expressed interest in working alongside our Atlanta office this year, we knew — with her parents’ full support — that we wanted her perspective on one of the most pressing issues facing teens today. At just 17, she’s part of the very generation most impacted by sextortion, and she wanted to write about it. What follows is her work, reviewed for accuracy by our subject matter experts, but told through her eyes: not ours.
We’ve also put together a free 📎 Do’s & Don’ts Infographic — a quick, shareable guide for parents, teens, or anyone who wants the essentials at a glance.
What Is Sextortion?
The word “sextortion” is the combination of the two words “sex” and “extortion”. By definition, it is a form of blackmail where a perpetrator threatens to distribute intimate, sexual, or compromising images and videos of a victim unless their demands are met. Common demands often include, but are not limited to, money, additional explicit content, or sexual acts. While the term sextortion encompasses both financial and coercive sextortion, these subsets have their differences.
- Financial sextortion — the most common form — involves an extortionist demanding money in exchange for keeping explicit images private.
- Coercive sextortion involves a perpetrator demanding more explicit content or the performance of sexual acts while also making threats to the victim as a method of manipulation.
The Growing Threat
Sextortion is more than just an online scam, it is a potentially life threatening deception rooted in digital manipulation. Law enforcement receives tens of thousands of reports annually regarding sextortion; furthermore, NCMEC averages 800 reports of sextortion every week with over two-thirds being financial demands. While these statistics are staggering, the most alarming part about them is that they represent the minority, as most cases of sextortion go unreported.
The Process
In the initial stages of sextortion, perpetrators will create fake accounts, posing as young and attractive individuals or even as someone that the victim knows personally. After a victim is snared by the artificial persona, an offender will begin building rapport, engaging in casual conversation that eventually turns sexual. To gather explicit content, extortionists will send fake or pre-recorded material to make the victim feel comfortable reciprocating. Victims are then persuaded to send sexual content such as images, videos, or messages. Throughout this process of deception, extortionists will browse social media accounts to harvest contact information and profile links to friends or family of the victim. This information then becomes leverage that is used when a demand is made. Once enough explicit material is shared and sufficient leverage is gathered, the offender begins to make threats. Most perpetrators threaten to distribute explicit material unless they are paid immediately. They typically demand fast, untraceable currency like cryptocurrency, mobile payment apps, digital gift cards, or wire transfers. In non-financial schemes the predator uses the threat of exposure to force the victim into producing even more explicit imagery or performing degrading acts on camera. What begins as a seemingly harmless online interaction can quickly escalate into a cycle of manipulation and blackmail.
Victims
Sextortionists do not discriminate between age, gender, and race, anyone has the potential to become a victim. The widespread use of social media, dating apps, messaging platforms, and online gaming has created opportunities for offenders to target a broad range of individuals. Sextortion often succeeds because offenders exploit natural human emotions and psychological vulnerabilities. Most victims are not careless or irresponsible; rather, they are manipulated through tactics specifically designed to create trust and emotional dependence. One of the most common psychological techniques used by perpetrators is grooming. Grooming involves building a relationship with a victim over time, often through compliments, attention, or romantic interest. As trust develops, the victim may feel comfortable sharing personal information or intimate images. Once compromising material has been obtained, the offender suddenly shifts from being supportive to threatening, creating emotional shock and confusion. Although sextortion victims are typically not physically captive, they may experience a form of psychological captivity. The perpetrator’s control over intimate images and the threat of exposure can create intense fear and dependence.
“One-in-four youth experiencing sextortion sought medical or mental health care, one-in-eight had to move, and 45 percent were unable to confide the experience to friends or family, mostly because they reported feeling too embarrassed or ashamed.”
— National Children’s Alliance
Impact
Sextortion can have severe emotional, psychological, social, and even physical consequences for victims. Many live in a state of uncertainty, wondering if or when the perpetrator will carry out their threats. Perpetrators carried out their threats in 45% of cases involving sextortion. One of the most serious consequences of sextortion is its connection to self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Victims experience feelings of shame, isolation, and hopelessness. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of victims that reported engaging in self-harm was one in seven. The lasting effects on victims highlight the severity of sextortion and the scale of the issue.
Prevention
Sextortion is a crime that can be prevented through education. Offenders rely on deception and manipulation tactics to capture the attention of their victims. However, by recognizing tactics such as fake profiles, requests for intimate content, and explicit messaging, individuals may be able to protect themselves from sextortion before it escalates. In addition to awareness, safe online habits are crucial to avoiding predators.
- Individuals should refrain from sharing explicit images, videos, and messages through any social media site, dating app, or gaming platform
- Maintaining strong privacy settings online can reduce the risk of contact between victims and perpetrators, limiting who can view profiles, send messages, and access personal information
- Private information regarding school, workplace, address, and phone number should never be accessible to the public
Response
In the case that sextortion is suspected, individuals should immediately stop any exchange of intimate material or money with the extortionist. Though it may be compelling to erase revealing images or sexual conversation, any and all material should be saved and later used as evidence, this information can be valuable for further investigation. Most importantly, law enforcement must be notified. Sextortion is a crime that can be prosecuted in many ways such as blackmail, coercion, possession of child sexual abuse material, unlawful distribution of images and more. Reporting a case of sextortion does not place the victim in danger; rather, it places them under protection. While feelings of shame and embarrassment may discourage victims from seeking help, reporting sextortion to law enforcement is a critical step toward holding the offender accountable and starting the path to recovery for the victim.
If You’re Being Sextorted, Here’s Exactly What to Do
- Stop all contact. Don’t send more money, images, or information — and don’t delete anything. Save screenshots, usernames, and payment requests as evidence.
- Report to local police. Sextortion is a crime that can be prosecuted as blackmail, coercion, possession of child sexual abuse material, unlawful distribution of images, and more.
- Contact NCMEC — two ways:
a) To remove the images: Use Take It Down — a free, anonymous NCMEC tool that assigns a digital fingerprint to explicit images/videos of minors so participating platforms can detect and remove them, without the image or video ever being sent to or viewed by anyone.
b) To report the crime: File with the CyberTipline (report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678). - Report to the FBI: tips.fbi.gov
Going Deeper
How Does Sextortion Differ From Sexual Harassment?
Although sextortion and sexual harassment can overlap and involve unwanted sexual behavior, they are distinctly unique forms of misconduct. The primary disparity between the two is that sextortion is rooted in coercion through threats, whereas sexual harassment is based off unwelcome sexual behavior that creates discomfort, intimidation or a hostile environment.
In cases of sextortion, the perpetrator often possesses some form of leverage over the victim. This leverage typically involves explicit content in the form of images, videos, or texts. The offender uses the threat of exposing intimate material or causing harm to force the victim into compliance. By contrast, sexual harassment does not require threats or demands. It occurs when a victim is subjugated to unwanted sexual comments, requests, gestures, or physical actions. Though similar to sextortion regarding the victim’s degradation, extortionists desire attention, power, and control, rather than tangible items.
Child Sextortion Compared To Adult Sextortion
While children are often targeted due to their naivety and vulnerability, sextortion can happen to anyone regardless of gender, age, and demographic. Both child and adult sextortion produce the same demands such as, money, explicit content, and sexual acts. In addition, offenders will utilize the same tactics of deception, emotional pressure, and intimidation. To target children and adults, perpetrators will use platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and dating apps.
While they have their similarities, a stark contrast between child sextortion and adult sextortion is the manner in which the crime is categorized and prosecuted. Crimes involving the sexual extortion of minors have the potential to be classified as: child sexual exploitation, child abuse, online enticement of a minor, production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and distribution of CSAM. Comparatively, adult-targeted sextortion may be prosecuted as blackmail, coercion, harassment, cyberstalking, and non-consensual dissemination of intimate images.
Child sextortion penalties tend to be much harsher with consequences involving long prison sentences, federal prosecution, sex offender registration, and enhanced sentencing. Adult sextortion penalties are still severe but often depend on the amount of money transacted, number of victims, threat level, and whether explicit content was distributed. Research shows offenders are often motivated to sexually extort children due to sexual gratification, desire for control, collection of CSAM, and grooming behavior. However, in terms of adults, predators are motivated by romance scams, organized criminal schemes, cryptocurrency extortion, and blackmail for money. Any explicit content of a minor is considered CSAM. Possession, distribution, or production creates additional criminal offenses. By contrast, consensually created adult images are not illegal in and of themselves, the crimes arise from non-consensual sharing, and extortion.
Ultimately, sextortion is a crime built on manipulation, intimidation, and the abuse of trust. Whether the victim is a child or adult, the harm caused can be significant and long-lasting. Continued education, awareness, and enforcement of laws against sextortion are essential to reducing its prevalence and ensuring that extortionists are held accountable.
Sources
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- National Children’s Alliance — nationalchildrensalliance.org/the-aftermath-of-sextortion
- Thorn — thorn.org/blog/the-growing-threat-of-sextortion
- EBSCO Research Starters — ebsco.com/research-starters/stockholm-syndrome