Experts share insights on how financial sexual extortion is being tackled across borders

With reports of financial sexual extortion continuing to increase globally, Alliance members last week heard how two of the Alliance’s member organisations are working across borders to tackle this growing threat.

Speakers Jason Barry from Meta and Shelley Allwang from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) explained why the rise of sextortion is a concern, and what can and is being done across different countries and sectors to tackle this urgent threat. 

Shelley shared details of a tragic and poignant case showing how quickly initial contact escalated to images being shared and extortion threats. Sadly the young person involved took their own life, reflecting the insidious impact of this crime.

Shelley talked about NCMEC’s Take it Down service, how reports are monitored and stressed the importance raising awareness so young people know they are not alone, that help is available, and action can be taken.

“Instead of just saying ‘don’t do it’ [share images], we want to tell kids what to do if it does happen. Because it is happening all over the world. We need children to know that if this does happen, we can help them. They’re not alone, and it is not their fault,” she said.

Shelley Allwang, NCMEC

She also shared details of NCMEC@s new sextortion campaign NoEscape Room, where users can interact with a website to experience sextortion from the perspective of a teenage boy.

Jason shared examples of cooperation with law enforcement that had resulted in the arrest of offenders, shared how Project Boost is building the capacity of countries to respond and talked about the safeguards Meta have in place to support children and young people, as well as to respond within minutes of crisis situations. He also talked about technological solutions such as signal sharing as part of the Tech Coalition’s Lantern project, and shared Meta’s sextortion hub pages.

“We know these scammers evolve to try and get round our protections, which is why we have expert teams who track their tactics and behaviours so we can work to stay one step ahead. We also work closely with partners like NCMEC and with law enforcement, to support them in investigating and prosecuting these criminals.”

Jason Barry, Meta

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Find out more information about financial sexual extortion, including the Alliance’s latest briefing on this issue.