A web of deceit: financial sexual extortion of children and young people

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WeProtect Global Alliance – Briefing

June 19, 2024

As highlighted in WeProtect Global Alliance’s 2023 Global Threat Assessment, cases of financial sexual extortion are growing dramatically. Teenage boys are the primary targets, with criminals soliciting images from them and then blackmail victims into providing money or gifts in kind.

Financial sexual extortion can progress rapidly, in some cases moving from initial message to coercion within a few hours. Tragically, there have also been media reports linking cases of financial sexual extortion to more than 20 children and young people taking their own lives.

This paper provides an overview of this rapidly growing threat, who is impacted, perpetrators and the typical pathways used to target children and young people.

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