What is Sextortion?

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What’s Ahead

• What is sextortion?
• How does it start?
• How do I know who can be trusted online?
• What do I do if this is happening to me?
• How can I help someone else who is in this situation?
• How do I protect myself and my friends?
• What can I do if I am sexually assaulted?
• What can I do if I experience or witness sexual harassment?

What is Sextortion?

• The FBI defines sextortion as a crime that happens online when an adult convinces a person who is younger than 18 to share sexual pictures or perform sexual acts on a webcam.
  • The FBI is seeing an alarming increase in cases.
  • These predators have developed tactics that allow them to exploit youths through a connected device, within their own homes.
• The strategies presented here can help you defend against sextortion by a perpetrator of any age.

How Does it Start?

• Sextortion can start on any online platform where people meet and communicate. Someone may contact you:
  • While you are playing a game online
  • Over a dating app
  • Through one of your social media accounts
• In some cases, the first contact from the criminal will be a threat. The person may claim they already have a picture or video of you that they will share unless you send more pictures.
• More often, however, this crime starts when you believe you are communicating with someone your own age who is interested in a relationship or with someone who is offering something of value.
• To get you to share these images, the adult may use:
  • Threats
  • Gifts
  • Money
  • Flattery
• After the criminal has one or more videos or pictures, they use the threat of sharing or publishing them to get more from you.
• The adult has committed a crime as soon as they ask a young person for a single graphic image.

How Do Perpetrators Do This?

• The people who commit this crime have studied how to reach and target children and teens.
• In some specific cases perpetrators:
  • Created social media profiles pretending to be a teenager, then talked to teens online and encouraged them to make videos
  • Offered money and new smartphones
  • Threatened a girl—saying he would hurt her and bomb her school—if she didn’t send pictures
  • Offered currency or credits in a video game in exchange for a quick picture

Here is a short video of a sextortion victim speaking of her experience when she was 14.

Talk About It

• Has anyone you don’t know ever tried to contact or talk to you while you were online?
• Did you ever suspect it was an adult pretending to be a teen?
• What did you do or what would you do if that happened?
• Why do you think an adult would want to engage with a youth online?

Who Can Be Trusted Online?

• It’s not easy to know who you can trust online. The FBI has found that those who commit this crime may have dozens of different online accounts and profiles and are communicating with many young people at the same time—trying to find victims.
• Be extremely cautious about sharing personal information when you are speaking with someone online who you have not met in real life
  • It’s easy to think: “I’m on my phone, in my own house, what could possibly happen?”
  • But you can very quickly give a criminal the information and material they need to do you harm.
  • Avoid sharing any personal information: your full name, location/address, school, age/grade, friends’ names, etc.

But How Can This Harm Me?

• Even if these criminals don’t meet up with youth in real life, the victims of this crime still experience serious negative effects.
• The criminals can become vicious and non-stop with their demands, harassment, and threats.
• Victims report feeling scared, alone, embarrassed, anxious, and desperate.
• Many feel like there’s no way out of the situation.

What Do I Do if This is Happening to Me?

• Go to a trusted adult for help and advice. Tell them you are being victimized online and need their help to make it stop.
  • It may seem like an impossible situation and talking about this can be frightening, but there are people who can help.
  • You are not the one in trouble.
• Another option is to contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678) or online.
• When you are ready, reach out to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or report the crime online.
  • FBI agents see these cases a lot and have helped thousands of young people.
  • Their goals are to stop the harassment and help you get the support you need.

Will I Be in Trouble?

• You are not the one who is breaking the law.
• This situation can feel confusing. Criminals count on you feeling too unsure, scared, or embarrassed to tell someone about the situation.
• You are not the one who is in trouble, even if:
  • You were on an app or site that you’re too young to be on
  • You felt okay about making some of the content
  • You accepted money or a game credit or something else of value

Sextortion is a crime because it is illegal and wrong for an adult to ask for, pay for, or demand graphic images from a minor!

Talk About It

• If someone came to you for support:
  • What is the first thing you would do?
  • How would you help them secure more support?
  • Consider role playing this situation.
• Does supporting a survivor sound like something you could do? Why or why not?
• Why is listening to survivors important?
• Why is it so important that a survivor feel empowered to pursue care and support?
• Why is it important to preserve evidence?

How Can I Help Someone Else Who is in This Situation?

• Here are things you can do if you learn a friend, classmate, or family member is being victimized:
  • Listen to them with kindness and understanding.
  • Tell them you are sorry that this is happening to them and ask them if you can offer to help.
  • Let them know that they are the victim of a crime and have not done anything wrong.
  • Encourage them to ask for help and offer to help them identify a trusted adult who can provide assistance.

How Do I Protect Myself and My Friends?

• Be selective about what you share online. If your social media accounts are open to everyone, a predator may be able to figure out a lot about you.
• Be wary of anyone you encounter for the first time online. If it feels wrong, trust your gut and don’t feel obliged to be polite. Block or ignore messages from strangers.
• Be aware that people can pretend to be anything or anyone online. Videos and photos are not proof that a person is who they claim to be. Images can be altered or stolen
• Be suspicious if you meet someone on one platform and they ask you to start talking to them privately on a different platform.
• Be mindful that any content you create online— whether it is a text message, photo, or video—can be made public. Once you send something, you have lost control over where it goes next.
• Be willing to ask for help. If you are getting messages or requests online that don’t seem right, block the sender, report the behavior to the site administrator and/or go to a trusted adult for guidance. If you think you have been victimized online, tell someone immediately.

Protect yourself and friends through awareness and sensible safety practices online – and be willing to ask for help!

Talk About It

• Have you or your friends taken steps to protect yourselves and if so, what were they?
• What would you do if you learned a friend were being victimized in this way?
• Does your school have resources or staff for students to get help if they are experiencing sextortion?

Do More

• What can you suggest to help educate others in your school or community about sextortion?
• Who at your school is the contact for this issue?
• Who in the community would you contact?
• Can everyone here share one thing they learned today and one thing they will commit to doing to move forward?