An NCA alert has gone to 100,000s of education professionals after a global increase in cases of financially motivated sexual extortion - a type of online blackmail known as ‘sextortion’

Webinar - Understanding Online Sextortion

On 3 June, we are hosting a one-hour webinar, delivered by experts from the UK Safer Internet Centre, to explore the growing issue of online sexual extortion or ‘sextortion’.

You can expect to hear about the latest trends, the different methods being used to target young people, the use of AI to manipulate images, signposting to a range of specialist support services, and advice on how to build a response into your school’s approach to online safety.

National Crime Agency Alert

The National Crime Agency (NCA) [1] has issued an alert for education settings about the increase in sexual extortion motivated by financial incentives.

There has been a large increase globally in reports of children and young people being forced into paying money or meeting another financial demand, such as purchasing a prepaid gift card, after an offender has threatened to release nude or semi-nude images of them.

This is financially motivated sexual extortion, a type of online blackmail often referred to in the media as ‘sextortion’. It is a form of child sexual abuse.

This type of extortion is usually carried out by organised crime groups (OCGs) based overseas who are typically motivated by money. They target all ages and genders, but a large proportion of cases involve male victims aged 14-18.

The NCA has produced the alert to help education professionals:

  • recognise the signs of this form of abuse;

  • understand how to respond; and

  • increase awareness among children and young people.

For more details of what the NCA would like educators to do, how to recognise sextortion, delivering preventative education, and supporting victims, please download the pdf on the right/below.

It also contains information about adult victims and a template letter that can be sent to parents and carers.

Footnote
[1] NASUWT works with UK Safer Internet and the National Crime Agency on issues of safeguarding affecting children and adults.