What is sextortion?
Sextortion is a form of online harassment and blackmail that involves the use of non-consensual sexual content to extort money or other favors from victims, or damage their online reputation.
It usually involves someone sending unsolicited sexual images or videos to another person, then demanding money in exchange for not releasing them publicly.
Sextortion is a serious crime and can have serious consequences, including financial loss and emotional trauma for the victims and even jail time for the criminals.
According to the FBI and Partners Issue National Public Safety Alert, in 2022, over 3,000 minor victims were targeted across the United States.
This cybercrime often goes unreported because victims fear the public humiliation of their personal information being spread, all the more reason to know how to protect yourself from sextortion.
Definition of sextortion
The eSafety Commissioner, the Australian government agency, defines sexual extortion, also known as sextortion, as follows
“A form of blackmail where someone threatens to share intimate images of you unless you give in to their demands.”
Protecting yourself from sextortion typically involves taking action against the perpetrator threatening to post embarrassing or sensitive photos and videos of the victim online.
Usually it happens through social media platforms, if they don’t comply with the demands of the perpetrator.
How does sextortion work?
Sextortion is a form of cyber extortion where perpetrators threaten to publish intimate images or videos of their victims unless they are paid money or given other favors.
It is an increasingly common cybercrime that has been on the rise in recent years.
Looking at the declaration released by the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant regarding the situation in Australia, in the first quarter of 2023 the commissioner receives 1700 reports of sextortion.
Compared to the same period in 2022, when there were 600, the rise is more than +183%.
This type of online violence usually follows a pattern:
- The offender lures the victim online or in person;
- Through a messaging chat or on the same social platforms, he asks to send explicit sexual content;
- At this point, the criminal threatens to ruin the victim’s digital reputation by publishing the content unless the victim sends more material or pays a ransom.
Protecting yourself from sextortion also means protecting yourself from potentially sharing personal information, such as passwords and bank accounts, if the victim doesn’t pay.
This crime is very often committed on gaming platforms, instant messaging platforms and apps, and social platforms.
How to protect yourself from different types of sextortion
Sextortion can take several forms, including:
- Online sextortion.
Online sextortion involves threats of releasing intimate photos or videos online, on social media platforms, websites or group chat.
To protect yourself from this type of sextortion, you usually need to remove images from Google or other kinds of content after the threat.
- Physical sextortion.
It involves threats of physical harm if the victim does not comply with the demands.
- Financial sextortion.
As explained by the ICE, this is the difference between traditional and financial sextortion:
“Traditional sextortion occurs when a victim is threatened or blackmailed into providing more sexual imagery; the predator threatens to share their nude or sexual images with the public. Financial sextortion occurs when a predator demands money or gift cards in exchange for keeping their sexual images private.”
- Relationship sextortion.
Relationship sextortion occurs when someone threatens to release intimate images or videos unless the victim agrees to enter into a romantic relationship with them.
Regardless of the type of threat, victims often find themselves fighting against the publication of private and personal content on the Internet.
This is why they turn to companies like ReputationUP to remove negative information from the Internet.
