What is sextortion? This fast-growing crime targets teen boys. Here's what to do about it.

Sextortion occurs when a predator using a fake or hacked account engages in a sexual conversation with you online and then blackmails you, often with nude photos you exchanged or sexually explicit messages. The crime can happen even if you never send nude photos, with the blackmailers using artificial intelligence to generate highly believable images. 

The most common victims of financial sextortion are teen boys ages 14-17. 

In extreme cases it can be connected to suicide, often within 24 hours. 

Red flags to watch out for: 

• Person reaching out is a stranger: It should raise alarm bells if you don’t share mutual friends with a stranger you receive a message from or if a profile looks unusual, blurry or highly edited. In some cases, the accounts are highly believable, having been hacked from a real teenager or curated with photos over months.
• Conversation quickly turns sexual: Teens should be alarmed if a new follower immediately guides a conversation to a romantic or sexual nature. 
• User insists on texting instead: Predators often ask to move the conversation off social media onto a private text platform or another encrypted messaging service, which makes it harder for victims to keep a paper trail. 
• Language is unusual: Because scammers may be non-native English speakers, poor grammar or unusual language can also be a tip-off of someone taking on a fake identity. 

If you or your child is being sextorted 

Block the predator on social media and any additional text messaging or video call platforms you’ve communicated on, and do not send predators money.

Report the predator’s account to the social media platform abuse occurred on, but keep your own account and documentation of all messages. Having a paper trail with time stamps can be vital in finding a criminal's identity.

Alert authorities by using the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678, contact your local FBI field office or report to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov/home

Minors who have been scammed can work to remove the images from the internet through NCMEC’s Take It Down service. If you’re over 18, use StopNCII.org to work to remove the images. 

Tell someone about what happened — a relative, teacher, coach, counselor, mentor or someone in a religious organization. 

If you need immediate mental health help, you can call or text the 988 suicide hotline.

Ensure that victims of sextortion are supported. 

The bottom line: The blackmailer is to blame, not the person who communicated with them. It’s the predator who committed a crime.

Parents and communities, including schools and law enforcement, should work together to share information and talk openly about online safety. Educators, doctors and parents should stay up to date with NCMEC and FBI alerts to follow trends in online abuse.

Tips for parents

If you want to talk to your teenager about sextortion, here are some things you should know before you have the conversation:

• Avoidance is outdated: Telling teens to avoid social media platforms or not engage with strangers online is outdated advice given the sheer scale of the problem, cybersecurity experts say. What’s more, thanks to AI, a child could be blackmailed regardless of if they’ve shared a nude image to begin with.
• Start the conversation early-on: Open up the conversation about sextortion and internet safety early-on to build trust and confidence over time. Discuss internet abuse in the wider context of what healthy relationships and boundaries should look like, and explain that being pressured or pressuring someone into sexual behavior isn’t OK.
• Outline who a teen’s support network is — outside of their parents. Have them name three trusted adults they could go to in a crisis. A trusted adult could be a relative, teacher, coach, counselor, mentor or someone in a religious organization. 

• Prioritize prevention: Create and practice an emergency plan with teens ahead of time so they know how to navigate online abuse if they are targeted, just like how you would prepare for a fire drill or tornado.
• Create an amnesty plan: Parents can create an amnesty policy that allows teens to turn to them for help in a dangerous situation without consequences. This is reminiscent of a good samaritan law. 
• Make sure kids know it’s not their fault: Predators victim blame teens and create a sense of isolation to keep them from reporting sextortion. Adults should make sure teens know that even if they made a mistake, the blackmailer is to blame — not them.

Resources for teens and adults

• FBI tipline: Victims can contact their local FBI field office or report to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov.
• NCMEC’s cybertipline: Report incidents to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678.
• NCMEC’s Take It Down service: The service works by assigning a digital fingerprint called a hash value to a reported sexually explicit photo or video from a minor. These hash values allow online platforms to remove the content, without the original image or video ever being viewed. Start a case ticket at takeitdown.ncmec.org/.
• 988 suicide and crisis lifeline: If in need of immediate mental health help, you can call or text the 988 suicide hotline.

Illustrations by Veronica Bravo, Paste BN

This article is part of an ongoing Paste BN series investigating a surge in financial sextortion and its mental health impact on teenage boys. The first article in the series discussed online terminology that should raise red flags to teens and parents. The second article discusses teen suicides linked to sextortion.

If you'd like to share your experience with sextortion, cybercriminals or recovery assistance services, please contact us here.

Rachel Hale’s role covering Youth Mental Health at Paste BN is supported by a partnership with Pivotal Ventures and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Reach her at rhale@usatoday.com and @rachelleighhale on X.