How does sextortion occur?

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• Youth (young men in particular) are often tricked into believing they are talking to a young girl. They chat over a short period of time, usually several hours, but in some cases as little as 20 minutes.

• Sextorters convince their victims to exchange sexual content and often start the trade by sharing a sexual photo first. The targeted youth then sends a sexual photo or video, or are tricked into exposing themselves or engaging in a sexual act over a livestream and being unknowingly recorded.

• Immediately after receiving the sexual content, the sextorter makes their demands. If a young girl is victimized, the sextorter typically demands additional sexual photos and videos. If the sextorter targets a boy, they almost always demand money instead.

  • The sextorter will try to intimidate their victim by threatening to leak the content online or share it directly with the youth’s friends/family if they don’t comply. It‘s common for the offender to share screenshots of the youth’s contacts or other identifying information (school, home address) to terrify the youth into sending sexual photos or money.

• If the youth gives in, the sextorter will demand more sexual photos or money. Sextorters will sometimes barter and accept a lower amount if the youth says they cannot pay.

  • Amounts of money demanded range from as little as $9 (the amount a youth had in their bank account) to $7,500.

• If the sextorter demands money, payment forms vary from online payment providers like PayPal, Western Union, MoneyGram, etc.; through online gift cards for Amazon, Google Play, Steam, VISA, etc.; or through e-transfer direct from bank accounts.