Sex Blackmail Cases Involving Minors Surge, FBI Warns Parents

Recently, there has been a significant increase in sextortion scams, with criminals from Nigeria targeting adult men in the United States, as reported by social media giant Meta.

Meta took action by removing approximately 63,000 accounts from Nigeria that were involved in financial sextortion scams. These scams typically involve criminals posing as someone else, often an attractive woman, to deceive victims into sending nude photos. Subsequently, the scammers threaten to expose these photos unless payment is made.

In an effort to combat sextortion, Meta also removed 200 Facebook pages and 5,700 Facebook groups from Nigeria. These groups provided resources for carrying out scams, such as scripts for interacting with victims and links to photo albums for creating fake accounts.

Meta’s Innovative Approach

Meta is exploring new technologies to prevent victims from falling prey to sextortion scams. One such feature is an auto-blur function in Instagram DMs that blurs images containing nudity.

Antigone Davis, Meta’s global director of security, emphasized the severity of financial extortion crimes and the importance of addressing them promptly.

Impact on Minors and Collaboration with Law Enforcement

A study by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and Thorn revealed that platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are common targets for sextortion scams, with many originating in Nigeria or Côte d’Ivoire.

Despite primarily targeting adult males, some scammers also aim to exploit teenagers. The FBI has highlighted the devastating effects of financial sex blackmail scams, with reports of child victims resorting to suicide in some cases.

Protecting Oneself on Social Media

Davis advised social media users to exercise caution when approached by accounts with highly stylized or attractive photos, especially if they request image exchanges. Users should be vigilant and review their message privacy settings to filter out potential scammers.

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