JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Local FBI agents are warning parents about an increase in sextortion cases targeting young boys.
That’s when a scammer gets the victim to send explicit pictures and then demands money or says the pictures will be released.
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It’s a dangerous scheme that FBI Jacksonville said it is seeing more of every year, but this time teenage boys tend to be the targets.
“A male is pretending to be a young female who gets that young male in a compromised position to extort them,” FBI Jacksonville Special Agent CJ Goodman said. “You don’t know who is on the other end of that line.”
Social media apps and even gaming programs are ways that Goodman said suspects go after kids.
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In 2021 alone, the FBI saw at least 18,000 sextortion tips nationwide and believe roughly $13.6 million were lost because of it.
“When we arrest these subjects, there are hundreds of victims that they’ve been working on or taken money from,” Goodman said.
Goodman said the best thing parents can do is understand the devices kids are using and change the privacy settings yourself. While it’s difficult to come forward, it can help them with these cases.
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“No doubt this is a tough topic to have and no doubt it’s a hard conversation to have with your children, but have the conversation,” he said.
The FBI provides the following tips to protect children online:
- Be selective about what you share online, especially your personal information.
- Be wary of anyone you encounter online for the first time. Block messages from strangers.
- Be aware that people can pretend to be anyone online. Videos and photos are not always proof.
- Be suspicious if you meet someone on a game or app and they ask you chat on another platform.
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If you believe you or someone you know is the victim of sextortion:
- Contact local law enforcement, FBI Jacksonville at 904-248-7000 or tips.fbi.gov, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST/Cybertipline.org.
- Do not delete anything before law enforcement is able to review it.
- Tell law enforcement everything about the encounters; it may be embarrassing, but necessary.
FBI Jacksonville is also hosting a “Be Smart with your Smartphone: Teen Edition” event next Thursday, April 21 with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and St. Johns County School District in efforts to help local teenagers understand the risks associated with use of social media apps.
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