CASE STUDY 1 – The Threat of Financial Sextortion

The threat of financial sextortion is a severe and accelerating public safety crisis for Australian youth, necessitating a calm, factual discussion focused on empowerment and immediate intervention.1 The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), in collaboration with the eSafety Commissioner, reports concerning data on the prevalence of this crime among Australian adolescents.

AIC research shows that more than 1 in 10 adolescents surveyed had experienced sexual extortion in their lifetime.14 Furthermore, the escalation of this crime is alarming: the eSafety Commissioner reported a staggering 1,300% increase in sextortion reports since 2018.12 Adding to this volatility, the Australian Federal Police (AFP)-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) recorded a 41% jump in overall reports of online child sexual exploitation in the 2024/2025 financial year.17

A critical element of the localized threat is the use of manufactured evidence. The AIC found that 41.4% of victims were extorted using digitally manipulated material.13 This confirms the widespread weaponization of deepfake technology, which dramatically lowers the barrier for entry for criminals and makes threats more psychologically devastating. The prevalence data indicates that the accelerating adoption of AI is directly driving the surge in this crime, underscoring the severity of the crisis.

The criminal nature of the threat must be emphasized: the scammer is the criminal, and the victim is never at fault.1 The method of operation is consistent: two-thirds of those extorted (64.6%) were victimized by someone they had only ever met online 13, reinforcing the curriculum’s core lesson that identities online cannot be trusted. The only reliable countermeasure is the absolute protocol: never pay the money, never delete evidence, and tell a trusted adult immediately.1

This lesson addresses a serious and rapidly growing online crime targeting young people, known as financial sextortion.13 It is crucial to discuss this topic calmly and factually, focusing on empowerment and safety. The scammer's playbook is consistent: they use fake social media accounts, often pretending to be a teenage girl, to connect with victims, who are predominantly teenage boys.18 They build a quick rapport and then trick or coerce the victim into sending a sexually explicit photo or video of themselves.18

The moment the image is sent, the scammer's persona changes. They immediately begin threatening to share the image with the victim's family, friends, and classmates, whose names they have often gathered from the victim's social media followers list. They then demand money, often in the form of gift cards or cryptocurrency, to prevent the image from being released.13

It is vital to emphasize three points: 1) This is a crime of extortion, and the scammer is the criminal. 2) The victim is not in trouble and should not feel ashamed. 3) The most important thing to do is to tell a trusted adult immediately, block the scammer, and never, ever pay the money, as they will only demand more.

●      References: According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), reports of financial sextortion to their CyberTipline spiked from 13,842 in the first half of 2024 to 23,593 in the same period of 2025.18 NCMEC is aware of more than three dozen teens who have taken their own lives as a result of being victimized by this crime.18

●      Questions:

1.     In a sextortion scam, who is the criminal: the person who sends the image or the person who demands money? Why?

2.     If this ever happens to you or a friend, what is the very first and most important thing you should do?

●      Family Activity: Create a family "safe word" or "code phrase." This is a special word or phrase that a child can say or text to a parent at any time if they are in a scary, uncomfortable, or high-pressure situation online or offline. This word signals, "I need help now, no questions asked, and I know I won't be in trouble." This provides a critical escape hatch and a lifeline for situations like sextortion where a child might be too scared or ashamed to describe the problem in detail.