The number of under-18s targeted by ‘sextortion’ gangs in Leicestershire soared by 443 per cent between 2021 and 2023. The crime often involves high-tech foreign gangs setting up fake accounts to establish friendships and obtain explicit photos from young people before demanding money from them. Don’t let them go.
According to a Freedom of Information Act request, just 28 incidents of sextortion were reported to Leicestershire Police by under-18s in the year between June 2020 and May 2021. This number will jump to 48 in 2022, and the number of child victims rose to 152 in the year to May last year.
Sean Sutton, director of partnerships and education at the National Crime Agency’s Threat Leadership Command, said: “This is a horrific crime. They have no regard for the victims.”
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“They are trying to destroy their lives, or say they will. In my opinion, this is one of the most dangerous crimes of its kind.
“It’s on the rise. It’s captivating kids, but it’s also captivating young people.”
People over the age of 18 are also victims of such extortion, and fake female accounts are often used to target men. In some cases, criminals hack real women’s accounts and use them to lure unsuspecting male victims, using AI to chat and bond with them.
Mr Sutton said many victims were ashamed of what had been discovered, which is why it was important people knew the scale of the crime. “Many of them feel very responsible, but we tell them that you work for a very large company here,” he said.
“Many people are doing this. You don’t have to be stupid to fall for this. Even the smartest people have been fooled by these horrible criminals. You are not alone.”
“The perpetrators hope that the element of embarrassment will be enough to stop people from reporting this. Our message is: You have done nothing wrong. about it.
“You thought you were sharing an image with a 17-year-old girl from country .
“They may feel embarrassed, but it’s not their fault. Ideally they would report it to the police, and the police would be sympathetic.”
Mr Sutton explained how young people are induced to share explicit images and videos, saying: “They lure individuals into false potential romantic scenarios. Loving, complementing, and turning it into a cheating scenario.”
“Then they ask for photos or videos. It doesn’t matter which. It depends on what the victim is willing to expose themselves to.”
“This is a ‘if you share an image with me, I’ll share an image with you’ type of scenario.”
Cormac Nolan, Director of Services at Childline, said: Over a 12-month period, he saw a 61% increase in calls to Childline from children and young people who had been pressured or threatened to share sexually explicit images.
“This kind of abuse is extremely painful for the recipient.”
Kate Edwards, NSPCC’s deputy director of online child safety, said: ‘If children and young people are exploited to share nude images or videos of themselves online, they can be left with significant psychological damage. Yes,” he added.
“Young people can form strong connections with the people they interact with online, and individuals can exploit those feelings by implying that they are owed an image or that their feelings will be hurt. Young people can be tricked into thinking they are sharing these images with other young people,” or they may be offered money or gifts in exchange for these images. ”
Similar leaps have been made in Leicestershire in other parts of the country. The biggest increase was at Greater Manchester Police, where the number of calls for under-18s jumped from 20 to 560 per year between 2021 and 2023.
Leicestershire’s huge rise of 443 per cent was only ninth on the list for all police forces. In most cases, a person under the age of 18 was blackmailed using an actual image of themselves, but in some cases, the body of another child was used to create a fake photo of the victim.