Rise of Child Sexual Exploitation Alarms FBI and UK Authorities
In the digital age, where social media platforms have become a significant part of daily life, a troubling trend has emerged. Sextortion, a crime that can have devastating consequences for victims, has seen a significant increase in recent years.
According to reports, tech companies, including Snapchat and Facebook, logged approximately 20,000 cases of adults grooming children online in the year 2020. This number rose even further in 2024, with over 9,600 cases reported in the UK alone during the first six months of the year. This represents a concerning 100% increase in sextortion scams observed in 2025, as per the Gen Q2 2025 Threat Report.
Offenders involved in these crimes typically threaten to release compromising material unless they receive payment, often requested in gift cards, mobile payment services, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency. The FBI has expressed concern over this crime, stating that it threatens the future of all countries, particularly children.
Sextortion victims are often males between the ages of 14 and 17, but any child can become a victim. The FBI has more than 250 investigations currently underway into sextortion, as revealed in March of this year.
The National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US received 546,000 reports from tech firms of adults across the world soliciting children in 2024, a 192% increase from 2023. However, precise comparative data for Snapchat, Facebook, and NCMEC reports over multiple years is not available in the retrieved sources.
The NCA is aware of more than three dozen teenage boys worldwide who have taken their own lives after falling victim to sextortion since 2021. Unfortunately, NCMEC has not provided specific numbers for the cases of sextortion leading to suicide in the UK.
Rani Govender of the NSPCC stated that sextortion and other financially motivated sexual crimes have a "devastating" impact on youngsters. The FBI issued a report warning that sextortion is a growing threat targeting minors as early as January 2024.
The FBI explained that financially motivated sextortion involves offenders coercing minors to create and send sexually explicit material. Offenders are motivated by financial gain, not necessarily sexual gratification.
In the face of this growing threat, it is crucial for parents, educators, and tech companies to be vigilant and to educate children about the dangers of online grooming and sextortion. By working together, we can help protect our children and combat this troubling trend.
[1] Gen Q2 2025 Threat Report: https://www.gen.com/resources/reports/gen-q2-2025-threat-report/
- In the realm of health-and-wellness, the psychological impact of sextortion on victims, especially young males, is a growing concern that necessitates heightened awareness and education.
- Beyond general news, technology plays a significant role in facilitating crimes like sextortion, necessitating tech companies to reinforce their efforts in preventing online grooming and protect the vulnerable, such as children.
- Amidst the advancements in science and technology, the issue of sexual-health, particularly sextortion, has emerged as a pressing concern for law enforcement agencies like the FBI, demanding concerted efforts from all sectors, including crime-and-justice, to combat this rising threat.
