FBI and NSPCC alarmed at ‘shocking’ rise in online sextortion of children

The UK’s National Crime Agency has launched an ‘unprecedented’ campaign to alert teachers, parents and children to the dangers of being blackmailed into sharing abusive, explicit images. Photograph: The Good Brigade/Getty

Tech companies including Snapchat and Facebook reported more than 9,600 cases of adults grooming children online in the UK in just six months last year – the equivalent of about 400 a week.

Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), have grown increasingly alarmed about the growing threat from sextortion and other crimes targeting teenagers.