National Crime Agency issues ‘unprecedented’ warning to schools to protect young people from ‘sextortion’ threat

The National Crime Agency, (NCA), has contacted schools across the country to highlight the growing number of cases of ‘sextortion’ – an offence which sees children and young people coerced into paying money to prevent revealing images of them – real of faked – being shared online. 

The advice seeks to help teachers spot the signs of abuse and support those who are being targeted. It also includes guidance for parents and carers on how to talk to their children about sextortion and what to do if they are victimised.

The NCA said the number of cases reported globally to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) more than doubled in 2023, rising to 26,718 from 10,731 in the year before.

According to the NCA, children have reported being:

• Contacted by an online account that they do not know but appears to be another child or young person. They may also be contacted by a hacked account of a child or young person they do know, but the communication feels unfamiliar;

• Quickly engaged in sexually explicit communications, which may include the offender sharing an indecent image first;

• Manipulated or pressured into taking nude or semi-nude photos or videos;

• Told they have been hacked and the offender has access to their images, personal information and contacts (whether this is true or not);

• Blackmailed into sending money or meeting another financial demand (such as purchasing a pre-paid gift card) after sharing an image or video, or the offender sharing hacked or digitally manipulated/AI-generated images of their victim and making the threat of sharing them wider.

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James Babbage, Director General for Threats at the National Crime Agency, said: “Sextortion is a callous crime.

“Perpetrators have no concern for victims or the lives that might be destroyed in the process. Their sole motivation is financial gain.

“We are asking education professionals to help us raise awareness about this crime type, which is sadly increasing across the world.

“This alert is designed to guide them in supporting young people who may be targeted.

“Sextortion causes immeasurable stress and anguish, and we know there are adults and young people who have devastatingly taken their own lives as a result.

“A lot of victims feel responsible but we need them to know this is absolutely not the case; you are not to blame and help and support is available.

“As well as raising awareness with this alert, we want to encourage young people to report incidents to an adult they trust, the police or to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Safety Centre, (CEOP).”

Advice to parents and carers if their child says that someone is trying to trick, threaten or blackmail them online:

• Don’t pay, do stop contact and block: You may be tempted to pay, but there is no guarantee that this will stop the threats. As the offender’s motive is to get money, once you have shown you can pay, they will likely ask for more and blackmail may continue. If you have paid, don’t panic but don’t pay anything more. Help your child to stop all communication with the offender and block them on any accounts that they have been contacted on.

• Avoid deleting anything: Try not to delete anything that could be used as evidence such as messages, images, telephone numbers, and bank account details.

• Report to the police or CEOP: Call 101 or 999 if there is an immediate risk of harm to your child. Or you can use the CEOP Safety Centre to report any online blackmail attempts.

  
  

Adults can also support young people in getting their images removed using Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation’s Report Remove tool, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children’s Take It Down tool, and reporting to the platform or app it has been shared on.

Further information is available on the CEOP website here

The New Futures Project was set up to support women involved in sex work more than 20 years ago.

However, we have evolved into a comprehensive welfare and counselling service for women and young people dealing with sexual abuse or exploitation, domestic violence, trafficking, poverty and debt, substance use or mental ill-health.

Call us on 0116 251 0803 or send us a message at: info@new-futures.org.uk

You can find us at 71 London Road, Leicester, LE2 0PE.

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