What Is It?
Sextortion is the fasted growing crime targeting youth in North America, with incidents surging at an alarming rate of 18000% over the past 16 months. “Our teenagers don’t know where to run for help”
Cybercriminals are using fake social media accounts, (catfish profiles) and befriending teenagers, with most of the victims being teenage boys. The criminal then coerces the victims to share explicit photos of themselves. As soon as the cybercriminal receives the photo, the victim is threatened with exposure of the photo to the victims’ friends, family and followers on social media apps like Snap, Instagram unless money is paid. Ruthless tactics are used to intimidate their victims, inflicting lasting trauma and intense distress, which is leading to youth suicide.
Nearly all of this activity is linked to West Africa cybercriminals known as the Yahoo Boys, who are primarily targeting english speaking youth and young adults through Instagram, Snap Chat and Wizz. AI and Generative Artificial Intelligence apps are being used to in the support of this crime.
The massive increase in this crime over the past 16 months is a direct result of the Yahoo Boys distributing instructional videos and scripts on TikTok and YouTube encouraging other criminals to engage in this horrendous crime.
Sextortion Criminals are bombing high schools, youth sport teams and universities with fake accounts, and then using advanced social engineering tactics to coerce their victims into compromising situations.
The Criminal’s Success
In Canada, The Canadian Centre of Child Protection Cybertip Program currently receives an average of 50 reported sextortion cases a week, noting this “an unprecedented volume” and calling it a public safety emergency.
According to Snapchat internal data, 31% of teens who are approached by a sextortion criminal will ultimately share a compromising photo.
Special Note To Teachers: As a professional educator it must be emphasized and understood that these percentages of victims who report the incident to authorities is low, given the shame and fear that many victims experience. Based on current reporting of crime, these numbers could be 4 to 5 times higher than actually reported.
How They Find Victims
Instagram: the most common vehicle used to target victims. Instagram’s design and features make it easy for blackmailers to obtain personal information about the victim. Nearly all sextortion attacks involve the screenshotting of the victims Instagram followers and following lists. These lists are then used as leverage.
Snapchat: the most used platform to coerce victims into sending compromising photos, The conversation will start on Instagram or Wizz, then usually direct victims to Snapchat to exchange photos. Snapchat is used because victims think it’s safe, believing that once the photo is viewed it disappears and will not be screenshotted. Criminals effectively exploit Snaps safety feature, circumventing the screenshot notification feature and “live photo” indicator
The west African Yahoo Boys are a major threat, actively targeting youth in Canada. The Yahoo Boys share their tactics and craft among social media networks which has resulted in an alarming increase in this crime and subsequent suicides.This subculture has become part of the Nigerian internet landscape, and according to Google Search Trends in Nigeria, the phrase how to blackmail someone with pictures in up 850%.
Sextortion scripts have been viewed by more than a half million times on TikTok, YouTube and Scribd. Comments fill these viewings with other criminals asking how to download the scripts and tools needed to successfully victimize youth.
Extreme Threats
Immediately after a victim shares an explicit photo, the criminal uses an established script that is shared widely among Yahoo Boys on social media. This script takes advantage of the victim’s embarrassment and threat of exposure of the photo(s). Often, these scripts include coercion and extreme threats:
-Sharing of the photo to the victims Instagram followers and following lists
-Sharing screenshots of messages to the victims’ friends or family
-Claiming they will frame the victim for sending a nude photo to a child
-Creating a “Wanted” poster with the victims nude images, name and phone number
-Threatening that the photos being shared will result in the victim being expelled from school, exposed to criminal prosecution, unable to attend college or university or that their parents will be fired from their jobs because of the photos they shared
-They barrage victims with text messages, and iMessages from many different phone numbers. In many cases the criminals actually contact the victims’ friends and family members asking to be put in contact with the victim or leave messages for them.
What can you do to help stop this crime?
Talk to all young adults and high school students as well as college and university Students about sextortion. Explain to them the risk of friending total strangers on social media. Talk to them about allowing people they don’t know into their Social Media lives. Be willing to help, let them know that they’re not in trouble – and this isn’t the end of the world.
Street Safe Self Defence Training Company works with many High Schools and Students across Ontario. We know reality Self Defence goes far beyond the physical component that many people believe self defence is. We are committed to educating todays young adults on remaining as safe as possible in the “real world” as well as the “digital world” they live in. Please help us spread the message on Sextortion.
If you would like more information on the services we offer, please reach out to us at anytime.