Sextortion scheme targeting teens online

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – Officials are issuing an important warning for central Ohio parents about a scam making the rounds on social media.

The Noble County Sheriff’s Office posted a notice on its Facebook page about a sextortion scam targeting teens in the area.

It’s a type of scam that Better Call 4 has warned about in the past , but now it’s hitting close to home.

Here is what you and your kids need to know the next time you log in online.

In late 2022, Better Call 4 spoke with Ashley Gibbard from the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Michigan about an increase in reported sextortion scams across Michigan.

“There could be more of this happening out there, but we thought it was best to get in front of it,” Gibbard said at the time. “Even with a few reports, that’s too many in our opinion.”

Nearly two years later, it appears the crime wave is moving south, to eastern Ohio. Just this week, the Noble County Sheriff’s Office posted the warning about a sextortion scam.

Gibbard said the scams often start with a random friend request on social media.

“And then, what ultimately ends up happening is once that teen either strikes up a conversation or friends that person, that person ends up sending compromising pictures of themselves, or what that teen thinks is of that other person and they ask for some in return,” Gibbard said.

Just like the sheriff’s office post says.

“The alleged female attempts to get juveniles to share inappropriate images/videos and then uses those to extort them for money,” Gibbard said. “ The juveniles will then be threatened and told if they don’t pay a certain amount of money, the alleged female will send those images/videos to their friends and family. ’Pay me some money, or else I’m going to share these with the internet,’ and unfortunately, even if the teen does pay up in a sense, the blackmail continues.”

That can have serious, even deadly repercussions.

Gibbard said a Michigan teen who fell victim to a scam like this in 2022 took their own life.

That’s why the bureau and the sheriff’s office are working to get the word out and stop the scammers.

“The first way to protect our youth is to have these tough conversations with them,” Noble County Sheriff Jason Mackie wrote in the post. “Explain they should not be adding or talking with anyone they have not met in person. We need to talk with our children and warn them not to share images or videos through any platform they wouldn’t want their friends or family to see.”

Gibbard said to monitor your child’s online accounts as best as you can but most importantly, let them know that it’s okay to speak up.

“And then we can warn others to prevent it from happening further,” she added.

The Noble County sheriff said if anyone added the profile to their social media platforms, they should report it and block it immediately.

The office is still investigating the account while working with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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