‘Financial sextortion:’ What law enforcement wants you to know about the global threat targeting teens

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The Brighton Police Department is hoping to make people aware of an increasing global threat targeting children and teens.

Police say the FBI has announced it is continuing to see a number of cases involving young people being threatened to send explicit images online.

The crime is called “sextortion.” Police say the predators coerce the minors into sending sexually explicit pictures and then immediately demand money in exchange for keeping the images private.

“A lot of times these kids believe they are talking to someone their own age, and actually, they’re not, and a lot of times these people are well trained and follow scripts,” Sergeant Julio Montes with Brighton Police said.

Sergeant Montes says his team learned about the rise in sextortion cases at a recent conference. He added these conversations normally start on social media, dating apps, or gaming systems. Essentially: any format that allows back-and-forth communication.

“They end up uploading some photos and the next thing you know they’re being contacted by the perpetrator saying ‘We’re going to send this to your family, your friends, if you don’t send us money,'” Sergeant Montes said.

News 8 asked Sergeant Montes: Once someone realizes they are caught in one of these schemes and contacts authorities, how easy is it to trace the perpetrator?

“Through the research we’ve been able to do, a lot of these preparators are overseas, so it’s hard to locate them,” Sergeant Montes said.

That roadblock in finding out who’s behind the screen hasn’t stopped national organizations.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have launched a ‘Take It Down’ system to allow victims to report suspected financial sextortion cases.

“On there, they are able to start a process of trying to get that photo taken down or stop it from getting spread on the internet,” Sergeant Montes said.

And the message for parents and guardians:

“Talk to your kids, inform them, and watch what they’re doing online,” Sergeant Montes said. “Kids, be aware and to not upload anything like that to the internet, or to text messaging. Once you do, it’s out of your hands, and it can go anywhere.”

Sergeant Montes said while Monroe County has not seen frequent cases of sextortion, the Brighton Police Department wanted to put this information out, instead of trying to put the fire out, but to try to stop this from happening.

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