FBI takes aim at sextortion as it's on rise in Maryland, offers parents advice
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is stepping up its public outreach efforts on the dangers of sextortion aimed at minors in Maryland.
Supervisory Special Agent Amy Ferron with the FBI Baltimore Field Office is leading the mission to get kids and their parents to know sextortion involves an offender coercing a minor to create and send sexually explicit images or videos. An offender gets sexually explicit material from the child, then threatens to release that compromising material unless the victim produces more.
Among the factors that make it particularly heinous is that it can have financial motivation when it leads a child to cooperate with an offender who demands payment in exchange for destroying the illegal content. While victims are usually between 14 to 17 years old, any child can become a victim of this crime.
"These offenders want more of the sexual abuse material and we've seen a significant increase in financially motivated sextortion in the past three years," Ferron said. "This has been primarily from overseas offenders and that has increased year over year, and it's as broad as the internet itself and not specific to one area. The risk is anywhere a minor has access to the internet. It can also be through applications, games and (social media)."
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A heinous crime on the rise in Maryland targeting minors
According to bureau data, these crimes can lead victims to self-harm and have led to suicide. From October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations received more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors. The sextortion involved at least 12,600 victims — primarily boys — and led to at least 20 suicides.
In 2020, the Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit noted cyber tips concerning the potential sexual exploitation of children increased considerably over that year. Through Dec. 7, 2020, state police had received 5,433 cyber tips, compared to 3,248 such tips for all of 2019.
In the six-month period from October 2022 to March 2023, the FBI observed at least a 20% increase in reporting of financially motivated sextortion incidents involving minor victims compared to the same time period the previous year.
"One of our top strategic priorities is to engage the community since children are part of all our lives in some capacity," Ferron said. "Unfortunately, by the time we're talking one-on-one with a parent, guardian or victim, the act has already taken place. When that's the case, we provide resources and request they speak with their immediate and extended family to know the threat exists."
How sextortion happens and how do you report it?
The complexity of curtailing sextortion in Maryland and across the country begins with realizing how ubiquitous and necessary the internet has become.
The FBI notes it can start on any site, app, messaging platform or game where people meet and communicate. In some cases, the first contact from the criminal will be a threat. The person may claim to already have a revealing picture or video of a child that will be shared if the victim does not send more pictures.
More often, however, this crime starts when young people believe they are communicating with someone their own age who is interested in a relationship or with someone who is offering something of value.
"We do a great deal of outreach with every aspect of the community. We use data to show where the threat is coming from and the whole basis comes from the illegal material. Kids need to feel comfortable to tell a parent, guardian or trusted adult. We encourage that conversation to not be accusatory or blaming the victim," Ferron said.
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Ferron added if you or someone you know believes that they are a victim of sextortion or financially motivated sextortion, immediately report the activity to law enforcement. The public can report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or visiting tips.fbi.gov.
For parents or guardians, the thought of their children agreeing to cooperate with an offender is unthinkable. Yet the bureau warns the perpetrators of these crimes are experts in manipulating their targets, and the demographics among the victim of this crime are not exclusive to any group.
"The FBI has interviews victims as young as 8 years old, and the crime affects victims of both genders and crosses all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. The victims are honor-roll students, the children of teachers, student athletes, etc. The common trait among victims is internet access," said the bureau's crime overview.
Sextortion and human trafficking have dangerous similarities
While human trafficking and sextortion are considered different crimes, they both potentially demand the victim to perform illegal and explicit acts for the perpetrator.
According to 2021 data from the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked world-wide every year. The worldwide industry earns $150.2 billion per year from the use of forced labor, and an estimated $99 billion per year is made from sex trafficking.
Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore’s Eastern Shore field office recently appeared and spoke at a human trafficking awareness event at Salisbury University’s Center for Healthy Communities.
The Center for Healthy Communities invited HSI Baltimore and other experts, activists and local leaders to take part in the fourth annual Anti-Human Trafficking Conference on the Salisbury University campus.
The event, which commemorated January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, explored aspects of the global human trafficking crisis through engaging discussions and informative presentations.
“HSI is always honored when the community asks us to partner with them for such a worthy and necessary cause,” said HSI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris. “Human trafficking is a plague in our community and on our society, and we are consistently working to combat it by prosecuting traffickers and ensuring that victims receive the assistance they require to help them heal.”
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Tips for parents to check safety of children's internet use
Safe Place, Washington County's Child Advocacy Center, recommends parents not just talk to their children, but also check on their internet use and purchases.
Things to cover about online usage include:
Establish rules for internet use, including how much time they spend online.
Don’t post photos or personal or revealing information.
Don’t agree to meet people you don’t know or don’t know well. With some youths inclined to do so anyway, a parent could accompany them.
Don’t respond to threatening messages.
Have youths access the internet when in a common area at home or when an adult is nearby so the adult can hear what’s going on.
Check credit card and phone bills for unusual charges and numbers.
If family members keep credit card info stored in app stores, check for purchases of unusual apps.
Activate parental controls on devices.
Review existing posts on an app or website together to talk about what is and isn’t appropriate.
Geesaman recommends staying up-to-date on apps and interactive websites youths are using. These include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Kik, Omegle, WhatsApp and Tagged. If parents need help determining the latest apps, they could check with their child’s school or Safe Place.
Also, be aware of how the app works. When a user deletes a picture on an app, that doesn’t necessarily mean the image is truly gone.
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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Sextortion a growing threat to Maryland minors, FBI reports
