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In the world of modern dating, when your one true love could be just a swipe away, it’s easy to get caught up in the endless pool of suitors without considering who’s actually behind the screen.
Scammers have noted this phenomenon, using dating apps to coerce and blackmail users into parting with money. This is called sextortion. Here’s what you need to know about it.
Defining Sextortion
Sextortion is defined as “threatening to expose sexual images of someone if they don’t yield to demands”. A common form of this is financial sextortion when a victim is blackmailed into paying money to an offender who is threatening to share nude images of them. Financial sextortion has risen dramatically since 2022. In the US alone, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 80,524 reports of online enticement – reflecting an 82% increase from the year prior.
An offender will often lurk on dating apps or social media platforms and strike up a fast and intense relationship with the victim – also known as love bombing – before threatening to leak explicit images on social media or to friends and family. These offenders typically hide behind false identities and photographs (a tactic known as catfishing), often strategically sending explicit images — which are not of them — in an attempt to lower the victim's inhibitions about sending their own.
The victim may have sent images to the offender, been filmed or photographed without consent, or there may be no real images at all. The threat is enough.
“It started off on Hinge, this person matched with me and eventually got my Snapchat, which I don't even use anymore. She said she was a flight attendant living in another city (shoulda been suspicious there). She asked if I wanted to try something and sent me nudes and everything. Then asked to get pictures of videos of me. Now I normally have a rule to myself that I don't send nudes at all. For whatever reason, my brain did not prevail and I sent nudes, videos, whole lot. They then said that they were holding those videos hostage and if I didn't send money, they'd send it to my friends and family. I got scared and ended up sending them $570 through crypto.” – Reddit user
Deepfakes
Recently, though, offenders have found another way to blackmail victims with explicit images. The increasing sophistication of deepfakes means offenders can ‘nudify’ photos taken from social media and use them as leverage for sextortion.
It means that someone who’s never taken explicit images in their life could fall victim to sextortion simply by posting a selfie on social media.
“How far are we off from AI video deepfakes being believable? I’m trying to gauge how long I need to be hyper-stressed about this for, am I grasping at straws here or should I just accept that this blackmail (WhatsApp video recording) might come out one day and likely have serious consequences for my life?” – Reddit user
“I was talking to a girl on snap, and she screenshotted pics of my face and dm’d them to my insta followers next to a d*** pic that isn’t me. what should i do???” – Reddit user
Offenders may also use deepfakes to create fake images of themselves to draw victims in. A woman was arrested by police in Spain for using AI images generated of herself to blackmail hundreds of men out of £13,500.
“I’m so scared that he will send them to people I know, he also has an Instagram account and followed my high school pages and I blocked him on there as well. I can’t afford a lawyer or anything and I don’t think I even truly know anything about him. He was pretending to be someone else I think with deepfake technology because when we video called he looked just like this person but I later found out the person is a public figure from Europe.” – Reddit user
While there are instances of offenders being known to the victim – such as a friend or partner – deepfakes are sometimes created by professional scammers. Groups of these may come together to form a ‘sextortion farm’.
Sextortion Farms
Sextortion farms are large groups of scammers operating from a single location. They might involve hundreds of workers who are often held against their will until they generate enough money. The UN estimates that there are 400 sextortion farms in the Philippines alone.
Many locations are self-contained with dormitories, cafeterias, gambling rooms, and torture rooms where people are punished when they don’t meet their quotas.
“There are quotas for the amount of money you must scam. They set the target for me of $100,000 a month, and when I did not make that, I was beaten.” – UN interviewee
With victims on both sides of the coin, only a select few are benefiting from these large-scale operations – sometimes with fatal consequences. In 2023, a 16-year-old boy took his own life after being sexually extorted by criminals in West Africa. In Nigeria alone, Instagram has removed 63,000 scam accounts.
“I fell into the trap, the blackmailer has my face and the photo of my junk. He was so aggressive about it that he said if I didn't give him $1000 (I didn't) he would send the nud@ video to my parents and relatives, of which he had a list. I blocked him from everything but I received a message in spam with ss of him sending that video to all those people he told me he would send it. I am so scared right now about what to do and what not to do. What would my relatives think when they find out about that video.” – Reddit user
What To Do If You’re A Victim Of Sextortion
Falling victim to sextortion is never your fault. While it may feel like you’re alone, there are people who can help. If you are over 18, we recommend the following:
- Preserve evidence if possible by saving or screenshotting messages
- Stop all communication with the offender
- Do not pay any money, or stop payments if you have already sent some
- Report the incident to your police force
- Reach out for emotional support
- If you feel in immediate danger, dial the emergency number for your country
If you are under 18, you can do the following:
- Report what has happened to your police force. If you are in the UK you can also contact Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP), where someone will make sure you get help
- If you’re feeling worried or anxious, reach out to a local children’s charity, where you can anonymously talk to someone about your situation
- If you’re in the UK, an online tool called Report Remove allows you to report online explicit images of yourself. The Internet Watch Foundation will try and remove them
- Stop all communication with the offender
- Do not pay any money, or stop payments if you have already sent some
- If you feel able, reach out to a trusted adult – such as a parent, guardian or teacher – for support
- If you feel in immediate danger, dial the emergency number for your country
Our training is designed to help your community tackle online harms like sextortion. To find out more, visit our Services Page.
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