Sometimes, they even suggest conducting their intimate moments over a live video call, which the attacker surreptitiously records. Then, after some time, their “friend”-who at this point may still be a complete stranger to the victim-suggests that to the victim that they send some sexually explicit media of themselves, either a still photo. From there, their new-found “friend” suggests that they move their conversation elsewhere, either via email, a voice-over-IP (VoIP) service like Skype, or other platforms that allow the sharing or exchange of media. The victims recount the common story of meeting someone either on social media, a dating app, or a gaming site. The same is true for all sextortion cases. The start of any online relationship is usually not malicious. Today, internet users under the age of 18 are continuously targeted and victimized by sextortion, too. Let’s not forget that the FBI released a sextortion page in their official site for kids and teens back in 2015.
“Nearly half of these extortion victims were in the 20-39 age group,” according to the IC3 PSA, “Victims over 60 years comprised the third largest reporting age group, while victims under the age of 20 reported the fewest number of complaints.” Until 31 July 2021, it had received over 16,000 sextortion complaints, with victims losing a combined $8M USD at least. This revelation came from the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Fast forward 12 months, and the numbers continue to rise significantly. The pandemic saw a surge in sextortion cases in 2020.
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