PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The FBI is warning parents, teens and caregivers about a rise in child exploitation crimes targeting young boys.
Authorities say the increase in sextortion cases started during the pandemic. In these incidents, an adult contacts a minor over online platforms, like social media, games or apps, and engages in inappropriate behavior with them.
“They’ll pose, typically as a minor female, and they’ll use deception and manipulation to convince other minors that they’re a minor, but it’s OK to interact with them and then send them nude images,” explained Philadelphia Special Agent Don Asper with the bureau’s Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Task Force.
That activity can be secretly recorded, and the FBI says predators can then demand money or other explicit pictures, threatening to post those recordings online.
“Once they get these images, they’ll continue to either threaten them to get more or to try to get money,” said Asper. “That is a big motivation right now for these sextortion crimes, is money. And it’s working — that’s why they continue to do it.”
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He said these crimes are happening not only across the U.S. but all over the globe.
Asper advises teens to be skeptical of people they meet online and be selective about what they share. Block messages from strangers, and a big red flag is if someone tries to get a victim to move to another online platform.
Remember, he added, just because someone sends videos and photos does not prove that they are who they say they are.
Even if it may be embarrassing, he said it’s important to report these crimes in order to locate these predators and protect others.
People can report these types of crimes through their local FBI office by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
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