“We’re not the family we used to be,” says Rachel, as she reflects on the aftermath of discovering that her teenage son, Ben, had been the victim of online blackmail.
“He’s got an older sibling, so on weekends we used to do everything together, going out as a family. But when all this came about, that stopped. Ben wouldn’t go out, because he was always looking over his shoulder.”
Ben was just 14 when he was tricked on Facebook into chatting to someone he believed was the female friend of a friend. That person then revealed himself to be a man, and used threats and blackmail to coerce the boy into sending sexual images and performing sex acts live on Skype, with the videos then shared with five other men.
Ben endured spiralling demands for two years, and attempted suicide, before a police investigation prompted by another young victim revealed the main perpetrator’s web of extortion and he was eventually jailed.
Now in his early 20s, Ben has good days and bad days, says his mother, and still won’t talk at length about what happened to him.
As with so many other online offences, the past decade has seen a rapid growth of the crime of sexually coerced extortion, commonly referred to as “sextortion”.
Recent data from Police Scotland suggests offending has almost doubled from 2022, and while this crime can hit any demographic, analysis has found that teenage boys and young men are most at risk, and that they are also least likely to seek support from parents or the authorities.
As was the case with Ben. “We absolutely didn’t have a clue,” says Rachel. “Not until the police knocked on the door. Because when you’re 14 and somebody tells you they’re going to kill your parents if you say anything, you believe that’s going to happen.”
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has identified a similar “surge” in the targeting of young people, and Zara, a senior analyst, recognises a template in the cases she deals with.
“At the start of the chat it’s quite flirty, then they move offline to a video sharing platform, then quickly come demands for money or the images will be shared.” This is often accompanied by the threat of spreading ugly accusations, for example that the victim has raped young children, which further dissuades them from contacting the police.
These are highly targeted crimes, Zara explains, with contact established on trusted social apps mostly by criminal gangs based overseas. Aware that younger people may have restricted access to ready cash, the demands will often be for smaller amounts, frequently via Paypal transfers or gift cards like Amazon.
“They don’t give the young person time to react. They threaten to ruin their life and it must be absolutely terrifying”.
Joanne McEwan, superintendent for harm prevention at Police Scotland, is likewise attuned to the impact on young victims: “They may not have the maturity to put it in context and, because they are far less inclined to tell their family, they are then coping by themselves with a whole range of emotions: fear, shame, hopelessness.”
Her message is simple: don’t panic, you’re not alone and report it immediately to the police, who will treat the situation with respect. “They really mustn’t be ashamed.”
McEwan also urges victims not to pay their blackmailers: “It may be an empty threat, and even if they have the image they may well not have the ability to share it with anybody else.”
Zara also directs victims to Report Remove, an online tool for under-18s developed by IWF and Childline, which allows them to report anonymously any image or video which will then be placed on a watch list used by all the main social media players. If it has already been uploaded, Report Remove will send notice of takedown on the young person’s behalf.
It’s a constant challenge for parents to keep up with online risks, McEwan acknowledges. As a mother herself, she recommends openness to remove some of the stigma and secrecy around this crime.
Zara suggests engaging your children in conversation about who they are chatting to online and what sites they use. “Their online world can be a very private, insular place. Talk to them about how to be safe there and make them aware that they always lose control as soon as they send intimate images.”
