Major increase in ‘sextortion’ scams

It started with “flirty” messages David (not his real name) thought he was exchanging with a young woman his own age.

As the relationship progressed, he felt comfortable sending a nude picture she’d asked for. But David had been lured into a trap and was soon being blackmailed by an online scammer.

Police say “sextortion” is on the rise. Young people, particularly men, are coerced into sharing sexually explicit photos of themselves, before threats to post them publicly if the victim fails to pay a ransom are made.

David said he “felt like an idiot” when the person he had been messaging turned out to be a scammer demanding $1000.

Detective Sergeant Dan Wright, of the police Online Exploitation Across New Zealand (OCEANZ) team, said this was a common feeling among victims. “Sextortion can have a range of impacts on a victim, from embarrassment to significant harm to their mental health. Many victims experience self-blame.”

David was initially messaged on Instagram. “We chatted for about a day or two. Nothing exciting, but a little bit flirty,” he said.

After a week of building rapport , David was asked if they could move the conversation to online photo-sharing app Snapchat. NetSafe, a partner with OCEANZ, has warned switching platforms is a common practice by scammers using sextortion.

The messages gradually became more explicit until the scammer asked David if he “sends nudes”.

He sent one sexually explicit photo and that same night he was added to a group chat with another person he had not spoken to before. The unknown person sent screenshots of the photo, along with a list of all the accounts David followed on Instagram, and threatened to send the images to everyone on the list unless he paid the ransom.

“I was stressed out because I couldn’t afford to pay them, so I decided to suck it up and call my mum and tell her what happened. “That was not a conversation I ever wanted to have with my mother, but she told me to contact the police.”

His experience with police was initially reassuring and positive, he said. However, he had not heard anything since reporting it.

Wright said it was an “extremely challenging” crime to tackle, as most cases involved offshore offenders.

“We do make referrals to international law enforcement agencies when we are able. At the end of the day, we want victims to come forward so we can work with them to ensure they get the advice and support they need.”

David considers himself lucky as the offenders did not follow through on their threat, but he is still anxious at the thought of the photo being released.

Wright said there had been an increase in sextortion reports since late 2021. An average of 53 reports a month were made to police between December 2022 and June 2023.

According to NetSafe’s 2023 annual report, it received 1707 reports of sextortion – marking a 237% increase on the previous year.

The report said those figures did not paint the full picture of the extent of the issue, as many instances went unreported.