The National Crime Agency has said that young boys are being heavily targeted in ‘sextortion’ scams on social media.
The NCA has warned that criminals are using platforms like Instagram and Snapchat to con young men into sending them sexual images, which they then exploit to extort money from the victims.
They threaten to send the pictures to their school, friends and family unless they pay them £100.
The NCA has launched an awareness campaign after finding that around 90 percent of online sextortion victims are boys aged 14 to 17, although the majority of child exploitation victims are still women.
In some cases, victims have taken their own lives after being targeted by similar sextortion schemes.
Marie Smith, a senior manager at the NCA’s child exploitation and online protection command, called the abuse “extremely disturbing”.
She issued a message to victims, saying: “Do not pay – stay calm, we can help.
“If you pay once, they will just demand more.”
Most of the perpetrators are based in West African countries, according to the NCA.
“Nothing is off the cards and we hope to hold these criminals accountable,” Ms Smith said.
Data gathered by the body revealed that last year, the NCA’s safety centre received 380 sextortion reports.
Even more shockingly, police forces across the UK saw an average of 117 cases each month involving under 18s.
Across the pond, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the US received more than 28,000 sextortion reports globally last year.
Martin Richardson, senior partner at National Fraud Helpline, said: ‘Scammers will take any opportunity to try and exploit potential victims.
‘In this case they are preying on vulnerable teenagers and trying to shame them into paying money.
‘This sort of sextortion can cause incredible upset and distress to the victims.’
Have you lost money to a scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.