The FBI has issued a warning about for-profit companies that are linked to sextortion activity and are targeting victims using deceptive tactics to pressure them into paying for “assistance” services that are provided by non-profit agencies and law enforcement for free.
Sextortion is a type of digital extortion scheme that involves using phishing emails or fake social media profiles to deceive potential victims into sharing explicit videos or images, which are later used for blackmail.
To increase fear among victims, perpetrators often gain access to their social media or contact information and threaten to send the explicit material to their families and friends.
According to the FBI, for-profit companies take advantage of victims’ desperation for assistance and potential feelings of fear or shame that may result from the sextortion. These companies use a range of methods, from threats and manipulation to feeding the victims false information, to persuade sextortion victims into paying exorbitant fees for their help. Although for-profit companies offer to send and charge for cease and desist orders to the criminals behind the schemes, these “services” are not legally enforceable.
Moreover, these companies may also discourage victims from contacting law enforcement and reporting the sextortion attempts and may be “directly or indirectly involved in the sextortion activity.”
The FBI has urged victims to seek assistance from law enforcement and non-profit agencies that provide support at no cost.
Victims are advised to stop interacting with the criminals, immediately contact law enforcement, and file a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. The FBI also provided a list of indicators sextortion victims should watch for when being approached with offers of “assistance” services.
The list includes a company representative contacting victims and offering assistance services for which the company charges fees, advertising sextortion assistance in exchange for fees, requiring payment before the assistance services are rendered, discouraging victims from contacting law enforcement, using high-pressure or scare tactics in an effort to secure business, or claiming to be connected to government or law enforcement officials.
This warning comes after the FBI revealed that more than 18,000 sextortion-related complaints had been filed by Americans in 2021, amounting to over $13.6 million in losses. The FBI also shared several examples highlighting the tactics used to mislead sextortion victims to pay for assistance.
One example includes a company soliciting multiple payments totaling $5,000 from a juvenile sextortion victim after coercing the victim with threats of reputational harm, falsely indicating the victim would be unable to go to college or get a job and the victim’s parents would lose their jobs.
Another example is a company representative contacting the mother of a juvenile sextortion victim and offering to locate the sextortionist in exchange for $1,500, while discouraging the victim’s mother from seeking assistance from law enforcement.
