NCMEC Releases New Sextortion Data

For the first time, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is releasing the number of financial sextortion reports received from the public and electronic service providers, broken down by month.  

In 2023 alone, NCMEC received 26,718 reports of financial sextortion, up from 10,731 reports in 2022. 

The month-by-month breakdown of reports from Jan 2022 to Dec 2023 is below:

Sextortion is a global problem. Over the past few years, NCMEC has seen an overwhelming increase in reports of sextortion from children and teens all over the world.  

In cases of financial sextortion, victims often send nude or sexually explicit photos to someone online who they think they know. But, during these sextortion scenarios, the person on the other end of the chat happens to be someone else entirely. Once the offender has the photos of the child, they threaten to release them and blackmail the victim by demanding money to keep the images private. 

Offenders often demand various forms of payment, including wire transfers, gift cards and even cryptocurrency. In recent cases, teenage boys have been the most common targets of financial sextortion schemes.  

When talking to the children in your life about the dangers of financial sextortion, remind them that if this should ever happen to them, they need to get help before deciding whether to pay money or comply with the blackmailer. Cooperating or paying rarely stops blackmail.  

Victims of sextortion may feel overwhelmed or that there is no way out, but there is hope. If this happens to a child in your life, remember that the blackmailer is to blame, not the child. Even if they made a choice they regret, what the offender is doing is a crime.  

Most importantly, victims of sextortion are not alone and NCMEC is here to help. 

If you have unwanted imagery online, visit MissingKids.org/IsYourExplicitContentOutThere to learn how to notify companies yourself or visit cybertipline.org to report to us for help with the process. 

For more resources and information on sextortion, please visit NCMEC’s website here: https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/sextortion