Sadistic extortionists are trying to convince young Australians to commit ‘live online suicide’
A new AFP report describes a new wave of sextortion campaigns based not on making money but on sheer cruelty and notoriety.
The Australian Federal Police has reported a new trend in sextortion campaigns targeting young Australians, a trend that parents and carers should be aware of.
While many sextortionists seek to make money from their victims by blackmailing them by threatening to share explicit images or videos of them with friends or family unless they pay, this new campaign is purely based on cruelty.
What is even more worrying is that some of the perpetrators are young people, who have often been forced into online communities of sextortionists by becoming victims themselves.
Once a victim has initially been targeted and convinced to create explicit material, members of these communities will force them to produce more, increasingly extreme, content for the community, including acts of animal cruelty, live sexual acts, self-harm, and even commit suicide live and online.
In a 2022 investigation, Western Australia’s Joint Child Exploitation Team discovered a 14-year-old boy preying on victims around the world.
“Unlike Sextortion, these offenders are not motivated by financial gain. Instead, they are driven to exploit vulnerable victims to produce abhorrent content for their deranged amusement,” Helen Schneider, Human Exploitation Commander at the AFP and the Australian Center for Combating Child Exploitation (ACCCE), said in a statement. , directed by the AFP.
“Unfortunately, some victims of these groups do not see themselves as victims. They do not believe that they are being forced to carry out these extremely horrendous acts and are therefore unlikely to report it to the authorities.
“Without information or assistance from victims and the public, it can be extremely difficult for police to identify criminals and take down these dangerous groups.”
Commander Schneider said parents should be alert for signs that such groups are manipulating their children.
“If parents believe their child is engaging in harmful online activities, it is important to have a conversation with them to understand the situation and provide appropriate support,” said Commander Schneider.
“Warning signs that children may be engaging in harmful online activities may include increased screen time on computers or phones, isolating themselves from friends and family, or keeping secret who they interact with online.”
If you are concerned about your safety or that of someone else, dial 000 or contact your local police station immediately.
The ThinkUKnow programme, run by the AFP, has developed a resource to help the community identify sextortion and how to get help. The online response kit to sexual blackmail and extortion aimed at young people aged 13 to 17 is available on the ThinkUKnow and ACCCE websites.
