Central FM have teamed up with Police Scotland and Bruce Taxis, Falkirk to help keep our communities safe. 

More and more young people are falling victim to online extortion, but it can happen to anyone no matter your age, gender or sexuality. 

Online Extortion happens when criminals threaten to release indecent images unless they are paid money or have other demands carried out.   

Definition

Sextortion can refer to a variety of offences committed online. It is most often used to describe online blackmail, where criminals threaten to release sexual/indecent images of you, unless you pay money or carry out their demands.

Sextortion may be:

• Financial blackmail using sexual / indecent images that have been sent to somebody you’ve had contact with online,
• Financial blackmail using images that have been stolen from you, taken through hacking, or have been faked using AI generators or other image altering technology,
• Blackmail using sexual/indecent images that have been sent to somebody but with a demand for something other than money. This might be a demand for you to do something you don’t want to, like give them use of your bank account or provide more images.

Advice to Victims

1. Do NOT panic. You have already taken the first big step by recognising you are the victim in this and that you may require support to help you through this difficult time. The Police will take your case seriously, will deal with it in confidence. You will not be judged.

2. Do NOT pay. Some victims who have paid hear no more about it, others pay and are pressured for more money. In some cases, even when money is paid the criminals share the videos or images anyway.

3. Do NOT communicate further with the offenders. Obtain screen shots of any communication if you are comfortable in doing so. Deactivate your social media account but do not delete it. Report the matter to the platform to have any video blocked. Deactivating the account rather than shutting it down will mean data is kept and you can reactivate it at a later date. This helps the police to gather evidence and means your online memories are not lost forever.

4. Report the matter to the police and your social media platform/ website.  

5. Make a note of all details provided by the offenders, for example;

• the Instagram / Snapchat etc user name
• Any additional names used
• Any phone numbers or email addresses
• the relevant URL, also known as the web address
• the bank details, voucher numbers, Cryptocurrency reference, Western Union or MoneyGram Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN)
• any images that were sent or received.

6. If you have already paid, check to see if the money has been collected. If it has, and if you are able, then make a note of where it was collected from. If it hasn't, then you can cancel the payment - and the sooner you do that the better.

DO NOT DELETE ANY CORRESPONDENCE

Support for Victims

Practical support with reporting / Online safety

Sextortion in Scotland | Crimestoppers Fearless awareness and safety campaign designed to support victims and those providing advice and guidance to victims.

CEOP works to keep children safe from sexual abuse and grooming online

GET SAFE ONLINE is the UK’s leading source of unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety

REVENGE PORN HELPLINE is a UK service supporting adults (aged 18+) who are experiencing intimate image abuse

THINK YOU KNOW provides support for young people, teenagers, parents & carers

NCSC’s advice on how to protect yourself from sextortion emails

Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse | StopNCII.org  Provides advice and guidance regarding images being shared

Report Remove (iwf.org.uk) provides advice to report/ remove child sexual abuse images

Support with Mental Health

NHS 24 – call 111, or your local GP surgery: http://www.nhs24.scot

PAPYRUS gives confidential advice and support. They work to stop young suicide in the UK

Contact a SAMARITAN if you need someone to talk to, we listen. They won't judge or tell you what to do.

Childline | Childline 0800 1111

Kooth- your online mental wellbeing community. Access free, safe and anonymous. www.kooth.com

Togetherall -Share experiences in a safe, anonymous space. Benefit from practical wellbeing tools and resources. Gain access in minutes, available all day, every day. www.togetherall.com/en-gb

Support and Information letter

Advice and support following recent Sexual Extortion (Sextortion) incident

Please be assured that the police will take your case seriously and deal with it in confidence. You have already taken the first step by recognising you are a victim and contacting the police. You may require support to help you through this which can be found below.

What is Sextortion?

Sextortion can refer to a variety of offences committed online. It is most often used to describe online blackmail, where criminals threaten to release sexual/indecent images of you, unless you pay money or carry out their demands.

Sextortion may be:

• Financial blackmail using sexual / indecent images that have been sent to somebody you’ve had contact with online
• Financial blackmail using images that have been stolen from you, taken through hacking, or have been faked using AI generators or other image altering technology
• Blackmail using sexual/indecent images that have been sent to somebody but with a demand for something other than money. This might be a demand for you to do something you don’t want to, like give them use of your bank account or provide more images.

As a victim of Sextortion you may feel distressed or blame yourself. You have been a victim of crime - it is not your fault. It does not matter if an image was initially shared with your consent or through threats or manipulation - the misuse of your image is an offence and is never OK.

What do I do if I am the victim of a Sextortion?

You have already taken the first step by reporting the incident to police. Our main advice is to:

- Stop all communication with the offender immediately.

- You may be tempted to pay, but there is no guarantee that this will stop the threats. The offender’s motive is to get money, once you have shown you can pay they may ask for more and the blackmail may continue.

- Preserve evidence, if possible. Take screenshots of the offender’s profile information if you feel comfortable to do so. Save messages and images, and make a note of usernames, email addresses, phone numbers or bank account numbers.

- If your images have been shared online, collect URLs and links if you can. Please see support below for potential removal of images.

- Do not delete any correspondence.

- Review all of the accounts which you might have linked in case the criminals try to contact you via one of those.

- Review your privacy settings across your profiles and limit them so that you cannot be contacted by people you don’t know and make friend lists/followers private so perpetrators cannot identify them.

- Change passwords. Create a strong password using three random words – this makes it harder to guess. Do not use personal information such as your pets name, year of birth etc.

- Set up 2 Step Verification on your accounts for extra security

- Consider using a password manager if you struggle to remember your different passwords.

More information and advice can be found at:

www.scotland.police.uk/advice-and-information/internet-safety/sextortion

Further help and support is available:

CEOP - works to keep children safe from sexual abuse and grooming online - https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

National Cyber Security Centre - Advice in response to the increase in sextortion scams: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/sextortion-scams-how-to-protect-yourself  

Stop NCII Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse – Free tool to help detect and remove images from being shared online: www.stopncii.org

Get Safe Online - The UK's leading online safety advice resource: www.getsafeonline.org

Internet Watch Foundation – Help and support for victims of Sextortion provided by internet watch foundation - www.iwf.org.uk/resources/sextortion

Revenge Porn Helpline - UK service supporting adults (aged 18+) who are experiencing intimate image abuse, also known as, revenge porn: www.revengepornhelpline.org.uk

Childline – Report Remove– Report Remove Online image removal tool for under 18 years of age: https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/report-remove/

PAPYRUS - provides confidential advice and support and works to prevent young suicide in the UK: www.papyrus-uk.org

Samaritans - to talk any time you like in your own way and off the record: www.samaritans.org

Think You Know -provides support for young people, teenagers, parents & carers www.thinkuknow.co.uk

NHS 24 – call 111, or your local GP surgery: www.nhs24.scot

Kooth- your online mental wellbeing community. Access free, safe and anonymous. www.kooth.com

Togetherall -Share experiences in a safe, anonymous space. Benefit from practical wellbeing tools and resources. Gain access in minutes, available all day, every day. www.togetherall.com/en-gb

If you are in severe distress and thinking about harming yourself, please call 999 immediately.