‘Exponential increase in cruelty’ as sextortion scams hit younger victims

Reports involving sexual extortion are on the rise as criminals become more ‘adept’ at targeting younger children

Children as young as 11 are being preyed on in sextortion scams, as criminal gangs are targeting younger victims and girls in an “exponential increase in cruelty”.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is warning that younger children, as well as increasing numbers of girls, are now being exposed to sexual extortion, commonly known as “sextortion”.

This is where a criminal will coerce or trick a child into sharing nude or sexual imagery, often while pretending to be someone else, then threaten to share the imagery with the victim’s family and friends, or on the open web, if money is not sent.

Children and young people targeted this way are exposed to violent threats and abuse, and made to feel isolated and humiliated. Some children and young people have even taken their own lives as a result of the shame and distress inflicted on them by the criminals.

The IWF, which is the UK’s front line against child sexual abuse imagery online, is now warning that organised criminals are becoming “more adept” at extorting money from children.

New data released today (23 August 2024) by the IWF shows:

• Overall – in the first six months of 2024, child sexual abuse reports related to sexual extortion are up 19% compared to the same period in 2023.
• Victims are getting younger – with a 25% increase in reports involving 14-15 year olds compared to the previous year.
• IWF analysts have even seen some children aged between 11 and 13 years old.
• While boys still make up the majority of victims, there has been a 2,600% increase in reports involving girls.

In the first six months of this year, the IWF dealt with 89 confirmed reports of child sexual abuse imagery involving sextortion. This is a 19% increase on the 75 such reports it confirmed in the first half of 2023.

While children aged 16 and 17 still make up the majority of victims, there has been a 25% increase in younger, 14 and 15-year-old victims (40 reports compared to 32 in 2023).

This year, for the first time, there have even been three confirmed reports involving children aged 11-13 years.

The IWF, along with Childline, runs the Report Remove helpline – a world-first service which gives children the power to identify and report images of their own sexual abuse. If this imagery is criminal,  the IWF can then remove from the internet, or pre-emptively block them before scammers or other criminals can share them on the open web.

Heidi Kempster, Deputy CEO of the IWF, said: “These crimes really do plumb the depths of cruelty and hatefulness. For the victims, being threatened like this can put them in a desperate, lonely place. They are children, and they are frightened. To them, I want to say, you are not alone, and you are not powerless. We are here to help.

“Report Remove can give children and young people back the power, and can be a ray of hope for the increasing numbers of children being snared by these criminals.

“We also want to see the Government bring forward legislation to ensure AI nudifying technology is not available to UK-based users, and to encourage other governments globally to take similar measures.

“We know offenders are already exploring the possibilities of using AI-generated nude imagery to begin the process of blackmailing children and young people. This technology could pour petrol on what is already a fire that risks getting out of control.”

In previous years, criminals running sextortion scams had largely targeted boys. In the first half of 2023, almost all the sextortion reports dealt with by the IWF involved boys.

So far in 2024, IWF analysts have confirmed 27 reports of sextortion involving girls, a 2,600% increase compared to the same period last year.

Tamsin McNally, Hotline Manager at the IWF, said: “These criminals are becoming more adept at exploiting children online, and they are widening their nets to catch as many children as possible, including more girls than we have seen in previous years.

“I’ve been at the IWF for ten years and the way these children are being targeted is among the cruellest things I’ve ever seen. The exponential increase in cruelty associated with sextortion has been on a whole other level.  

“I see at least one sextortion report come in every day. The sense of shame and fear inflicted on victims, makes it so hard for them to speak out about what is happening to them. We need to keep pushing the knowledge there is something they can do to take power away from the criminals.

“We must warn young people that the people you talk to online may not be who they say they are. Have that in the back of your mind but young people need to know we are here and there is something they can do. There’s no judgement, we are here to help.”