NCA targets teenage ‘sextortion’ in online safety push

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has launched a new awareness campaign aimed at tackling the growing threat of online ‘sextortion’ targeting teenage boys across the UK.

Launched on 20 March, the campaign will run for a month and appear on social media platforms popular with teenagers, including Instagram, Reddit and Snapchat.

It is focused on raising awareness among boys aged 15 to 17, a group the NCA says is increasingly targeted by criminals using sexual extortion for financial gain.

‘Sextortion’ involves blackmailing a person into paying money or meeting other demands by threatening to release intimate photos or videos of them.

The images may be real or fake, with some criminals using digitally manipulated content to increase pressure on victims.

According to the NCA, perpetrators are often part of overseas organised crime groups – particularly in parts of West Africa and South East Asia – who are motivated purely by money rather than sexual intent.

In many cases, they are able to go from initial contact to blackmail within the space of an hour.

The campaign comes in response to a rise in reports of ‘sextortion’ affecting under-18s.

In the first five months of 2024, UK police received an average of 117 reports per month from children under 18.

The NCA’s own CEOP Safety Centre received 380 reports during the same period.

However, experts believe these numbers underrepresent the true scale of the problem, as many young people do not come forward due to shame or fear.

To gauge the current level of understanding among teenagers, the NCA commissioned research prior to the campaign’s launch.

It found that 74% of boys surveyed didn’t fully understand what ‘sextortion’ was, and the same percentage failed to recognise a request for nude images as a potential warning sign. Only 12% thought they might be at risk.

The campaign builds on a major alert issued to teachers across the UK in April 2024, which was estimated to have reached more than 320,000 school staff.

Teachers reported feeling more prepared to recognise signs of sextortion and respond to disclosures from pupils.

Alongside the social media campaign aimed at boys, the NCA is also issuing guidance for parents and carers to help them talk to their children about the risks, spot signs of manipulation, and understand how to support victims.

Resources also outline how to report incidents safely via the CEOP Safety Centre or local police.

Alex Murray, Director of Threat Leadership at the NCA, said the consequences of sextortion can be devastating.

“Sextortion is unimaginably cruel and can have devastating consequences for victims,” he said. “Sadly, teenagers in the UK and around the world have taken their own lives because of sextortion, which has been a major factor behind launching this campaign.”

“This campaign will help empower young boys, giving them the knowledge to spot the dangers posed by this crime type and how to report it. It supports them to understand that if it does happen, it is never their fault.”

The campaign highlights that help and support are available, and urges young people to report incidents to a trusted adult, the police or the CEOP Safety Centre.