(KNSI) — A Minnesota family hopes their frightening experience can help other families avoid being the victims of sextortion, which is one of the fastest growing online scams targeting teenagers.
Minnesota Department of Public Safety members held a press conference to discuss how these scams work. An online criminal befriends a person and then convinces them to send them a nude or sexual picture and threatens to show it to their family and friends or post it on a website unless they are paid a ransom.
One mother says her son thought he was playing video games online with a girl around his age, but he was tricked. After he was sent a nude photo of a girl, the scammers asked for one in return. After he sent a nude picture, the trap was set. “It went from a really friendly, and at that point a sexual conversation, to a very threatening conversation. He’s a 14-year-old boy and they knew exactly what to do to manipulate him.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Predatory Crime agents are investigating after he went to his parents for help.
According to the FBI, there were more than 7,000 reports of sextortion involving children in 2022. They identified at least 3,000 victims, primarily boys. They say tragically, more than a dozen children took their own lives because they felt there was no way out of the sextortion scheme.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has outlined steps parents and caregivers can take if their child falls victim to a sextortion scheme:
*Get help before deciding to pay. Cooperating with the demands rarely stops extortion or harassment.
*Report the predator’s account via the platform’s safety feature.
*Block the predator but do not delete the profile or messages because they could be useful to law enforcement.
*NCMEC can help you get the images off the internet if they were posted.
Hear the mother’s story by clicking here.
More resources can be found by clicking here.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. Veterans can call that same number and press 1.
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