Sophisticated crime syndicates targeting a record number of Australian children for ‘sextortion’ online

An average of eight children were sexually extorted for money every day last month using social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, according to police.

Data obtained by The West Australian has also revealed the number of child sextortion reports received by Australian Federal Police has increased fivefold in just nine months — surging from 39 in April to 25 in December.

There was a 60 per cent rise in reports of sextortion in December alone.

Sextortion involves coercing child victims into sending sexualised images and payments online by the offender pretending to be another young person.

Police say boys aged 15 to 17 years old are the most vulnerable age group — 90 per cent of victim reports to police are from young males — with Snapchat and Instagram being the most popular forms of initial contact by perpetrators.

“It’ll be a very, very attractive female in the profile picture,” AFP Human Exploitation Acting Commander Jayne Crossling said.

“They may just randomly attempt to friend a young person, or they may try to pretend that they’re a friend of someone else in that victim’s friendship group,” she said.

“Then most frequently, they’ll lure them on to another platform that allows for more private and usually encrypted chat.

“And in most situations the chat becomes sexual very rapidly.”

Cdr Crossling said the perpetrator would then ask the victim to reciprocate and send a sexual image of themselves. When they do, the offender will threaten to share that image with the child’s friends and family if they don’t send a ransom payment.

“We’ve seen reports of sexual extortion over many, many years, but it’s usually by an Australian-based offender who has a sexual interest in children,” Cdr Crossling said.

“This is very different. This is essentially organised crime operating offshore, who has decided that there’s money to be made in extorting Australian children.

“(They are) all based offshore, predominantly in West African nations.”

AFP have warned banks that children who are old enough to have a bank account will often physically go to a branch to make a transfer to not alert their parents at home.

“The bank teller, if they know what the red flags are, might be able to ask is something going on?” Cdr Crossling said.

“Is there a reason why you need to send this money to this account that you’ve never transacted with before?”

In response to the demand of the quickly growing cybercrime, the AFP has brought on board more officers who target “money mules” used in the criminal operation.

Cdr Crossling said they were Australians who, sometimes without their knowledge, moved funds from this particular scam to the offenders’ account.

“The money has to get out of Australia somehow,” she said. “So the young person is actually usually making a transfer to an Australian-based money mule.

“We’re working through AUSTRAC to then engage with the financial institutions to ensure that they’re not allowed to keep those bank accounts.”