'Any child on the Internet' could be a target: FBI cautions against 'sextortion'

The Federal Bureau of Investigation urged parents, children and the general public to be wary of adults online manipulating minors into “sextortion"—a warning that law enforcement agencies in metro Phoenix echoed on Thursday.

“Sextortion is the criminal act of receiving explicit photos from an individual—that individual can be an adult or a minor—and once that photo is received, it is then used as blackmail,” Special Agent Emily Steele said.

After the child or teen sends any kind of sexually explicit material, the offender uses it for leverage for either more media from the minor or for money. Offenders using sextortion for financial gain often request gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or money via mobile payment services.

"'Sextortion' cases have, unfortunately, been a very real part of policing as well as raising children for a long time. This is not unique to Phoenix," said Sgt. Brian Bower, a spokesperson for Phoenix Police Department.

These types of cases are unique in that cooperation is needed with social media platforms, schools and the victims, Bower said.

In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Sgt. Scott Gallas of Gilbert Police Department said the Valley is not immune to the threat of "sextortion," which occurs "all the time,"

"I started supervising our special victims unit in 2020. This is something that kind of started right around that time,” Gallas said, "It’s not uncommon for my unit to have about ten of these cases at a time—majority of the time it comes back to foreign countries. Most often, they ask for money.”

For Gilbert Police, the majority of these cases stem from social media applications like Snapchat, which has a "quick add" feature that Gallas said easily enables suspects to randomly add users who may be underage.

“In our experience, what we’ve seen is the suspects pose as an attractive female, they encourage the juvenile... to engage in sexual conversations and that progresses to trading nude images.” Gallas said.

Once nude images have been traded, that’s when the extortion starts, Gallas said. They either ask for additional nude content or if it’s a foreign suspect more often they ask for money.

"The threat is they’re gonna disclose the images to friends, family and school.” Gallas continued.

Websites or apps that include chatting features can leave room for sextortion, such as Snapchat, Instagram or Discord. However, one gaming site that often goes overlooked is Roblox, Steele cautioned. Offenders have offered children as young as six “Robux,” or the currency used in the game, in exchange for sexually explicit content.

Trends have revealed that victims are often boys ages 14 to 17, Steele said. However, any child is vulnerable.

“There’s really no ‘target child.’ The child in general is the target,” Steele said. “It doesn’t matter what your family life is like, it doesn’t matter if you have a single-parent home, a double-parent home. It really doesn’t matter... any child on the Internet is a target.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cautioned that offenders are often able to access the victims through social media sites and gaming platforms by pretending to be young girls.

Parents and potential victims should be cautious of strangers online who offer opportunities, like modeling contracts, or goods, like video game credits or gift cards, said ICE. The department also suggests that parents maintain open, safe communication with their kids and limit or routinely check their social media and Internet use.

“Parents should know what applications or what websites their children are visiting. They should know what’s on the child’s phone, and they should know the passwords and usernames of how to get to their accounts,” Steele said. If a child starts to become distant, a parent can then check their apps or frequently visited sites to see who their child may be talking to and what they may be talking about, Steele added.

ICE suggested that children and teens vulnerable to sextortion only add people they know in real life on social media, keep personal information off the Internet, utilize smart password practices and cover webcams or relocate recording devices when not in use.

Sextortion of minors has led to 20 suicides from October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations have reported. More than 13,000 reports of financial sextortion and 12,600 victims were confirmed during this time.

When these minor sextortion cases occur, the FBI will bring in a victim specialist, such as Maricela Savalas, that will work closely with both the victim and the family. They complete a needs assessment that assists with analyzing the situation and deciding if immediate or long term care would be best for the involved parties, Savalas said.

The FBI works closely with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), which has resources for victims of minor sextortion, such as their program “Take It Down,” an online service that helps to stop the spread of sexually explicit photos or videos of minors for free.

NCMEC can also provide peer mentorship and support groups for both children and families alike.

"We would encourage more parent involvement on inspecting their children's cell phones, social media accounts and having the hard conversations about not sharing explicit pictures with anyone," Sgt. Bower said.

The FBI urges victims, and/or people close to victims, to contact their local law enforcement or report the activity to the FBI directly by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or visiting tips.fbi.gov. It is also important to stop communications with the offender and to save all previous conversations, ICE said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Metro-Phoenix police join FBI cautioning families against 'sextortion'