NCA advice shared with Bailiwick children

Saturday 04 May 2024

Advice has been shared with Bailiwick schools after the UK's National Crime Agency raised the alarm over a 'sextortion epidemic'.

The NCA issued its advice on 29 April after "a considerable increase in global cases of financially motivated sexual extortion" was reported.

This type of online blackmail is "widely known as ‘sextortion’, " said the NCA.

The warning was issued after the number of global sextortion cases reported to the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) more than doubled in 2023, rising to 26,718 compared to 10,731 the year before.

All age groups and genders are being targeted, but a large proportion of cases have involved male victims aged between 14-18. 91% of victims in the UK were male.

Pictured: Teenage boys are statistically the most likely to be a victim of sextortion globally. 

Based on these statistics, specialists from the NCA’s CEOP Education team produced the alert, which was issued to teachers across the UK on 29 April and then shared more widely including to those in Guernsey.

It gives advice about spotting the signs of this type of abuse, supporting young people, and encouraging them to seek help. It also includes guidance for parents and carers.

James Babbage, Director General for Threats at the National Crime Agency, said: “Sextortion is a callous crime. Perpetrators have no concern for victims or the lives that might be destroyed in the process. Their sole motivation is financial gain.

“We are asking education professionals to help us raise awareness about this crime type, which is sadly increasing across the world. This alert is designed to guide them in supporting young people who may be targeted.

“Sextortion causes immeasurable stress and anguish, and we know there are adults and young people who have devastatingly taken their own lives as a result.

“A lot of victims feel responsible but we need them to know this is absolutely not the case; you are not to blame and help and support is available. As well as raising awareness with this alert, we want to encourage young people to report incidents to an adult they trust, the police or to the CEOP Safety Centre.”

The full warning from the NCA can be read HERE and the initial alert can be read HERE. 

Advice was shared with all schools in the UK, and a spokesperson for the States of Guernsey has confirmed that the advice was also shared with all local schools across the Bailiwick too. 

Guernsey Police and the island's Digital Safety Development Officer (DSDO) Laura Simpson, work with schools to provide guidance around online safety and crime prevention techniques too.

Ms Simpson has recently delivered a programme of lessons around ‘sexting and Harmful Sexual Behaviours’ to all children in years 8 to 11 at States run schools too.

What to watch out for:

The NCA says child victims have reported being:

• contacted by an online account that they do not know but appears to be another child or young person. They may also be contacted by a hacked account of a child or young person they do know, but the communication feels unfamiliar;
• quickly engaged in sexually explicit communications, which may include the offender sharing an indecent image first;
• manipulated or pressured into taking nude or semi-nude photos or videos;
• told they have been hacked and the offender has access to their images, personal information and contacts (whether this is true or not);
• blackmailed into sending money or meeting another financial demand (such as purchasing a pre-paid gift card) after sharing an image or video, or the offender sharing hacked or digitally manipulated/AI-generated images of their victim and making the threat of sharing them wider.

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