Financial Sextortion Crimes & Children

Winnipeg, Canada — Thousands of young men and boys have been targeted by financial sextortion crimes with numbers continuing to climb, a new international report by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) has found.

An open-source analysis of 6,500+ first-hand accounts shared publicly by sextortion victims on a popular support forum sheds new light into what has quickly become a public safety emergency affecting many Canadians and online users abroad.

Key findings include:

• The primary targets of financial sextortion are nearly always boys and young men, mostly targeted on Instagram and then moved to Snapchat, with payments often made through PayPal;
• Complying with extorters’ demands generally leads to frequent future demands;
• Some platform design characteristics, such as the public display of personal information and social networks, create favourable conditions for predation.

‘This is a public safety emergency – we are losing children to this organized attack against them,’ says Lianna McDonald, Executive Director of C3P. ‘Technology companies must be held accountable for the design choices they have made that facilitate harm against their youth users. Technical changes that would protect them are urgently needed.’

Read more on Thousands of boys, young men falling prey to financial sextortion crimes, Canadian report finds: Review of online victim support forum identifies major safety gaps; reveals males primarily targeted through Snapchat, PayPal via Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

UBC is hosting a webinar on the topic for all healthcare practitioners to learn more:
Sextortion: Managing and Supporting Children and Youth Affected by Sexual Exploitation
April 2 (Wed) | 12–1:30 p.m. PT | Webinar
Audience: all health professionals.
Overview: Learn to recognize the signs of sexual exploitation in children and youth presenting in your clinic. Gain practical strategies for managing cases and discover resources to support affected individuals. This webinar features expert panelists and a live Q and A session. Up to 1.50 Mainpro+/MOC Section 1 credits.