DETROIT (WWJ) - Authorities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are cautioning parents about a rise in recent cases involving sextortion of young children in the Detroit area.
The FBI’s Detroit Field Office said they have been receiving an uptick in reports of online predators posing as young girls to fool teenage boys into sending sexual pictures and videos of themselves.
"Once those images or videos are sent, the victim is threatened with exposure unless they pay the perpetrator," the FBI said in a press release.
The victims usually fall between the ages of 13 and 17 years old, but the FBI said adult males have also been targets.
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In sextortion schemes of underage boys, agents explained that children are sought out by adults on online platforms, such as gaming sites, apps, and social media accounts. The perpetrators pretend to be young girls to deceive and manipulate young males into making explicit videos which the predator either secretly saves or records.
"The predator then reveals they made recordings and attempts to extort the victim for money to prevent them from being posted online," the bureau said.
Sextortion is a crime, agents warned, and falls under the Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM); if convicted, the perpetrator faces steep fines and possible life in prison.
“The most effective way to stop these criminals is by preventing young people from becoming victims. We can do that through awareness, education, and having important — and sometimes difficult — conversations with the young people in our lives,” said Special Agent James A. Tarasca of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office.
“We recognize victims may be hesitant to come forward and report these incidents. If you are a victim and don’t feel comfortable reporting directly to law enforcement, we encourage you to reach out to a trusted adult, who can help you. Your brave decision to come forward can not only help us identify the criminal but could also prevent another young person from being victimized.”
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The FBI put out a list of ways parents and children can protect themselves when online:
1. Be selective about what you share online, especially your personal information and passwords. If your social media accounts are open to everyone, a predator may be able to figure out a lot of information about you or your children.
2. Be wary of anyone you encounter for the first time online. Block or ignore messages from strangers.
3. Be aware people can pretend to be anything or anyone online. Videos and photos are not proof that a person is who they claim to be.
4. Be suspicious if you meet someone on a game or app and they ask you to start talking to them on a different platform.
5. Encourage your children to report suspicious behavior to a trusted adult.
If you believe you or someone you know is a victim of sextortion, the FBI has multiple outlets to make a report:
• Call the FBI’s Detroit Field Office at 313-965-2323 or submit a tip online. You can also file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (1-800-THE-LOST or cybertipline.org).
• Do not delete anything before law enforcement is able to review it.
• Tell law enforcement everything about the encounters you had online; it may be embarrassing, but it is necessary to find the offender.
More information about sextortion can be found at FBI.gov.
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