Teenagers from Western English-speaking countries are increasingly targeted by financial sextortion attacks conducted by Nigeria-based cybercriminals, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) has found.
A majority of these happen on social media platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Wizz.
Financial sextortion, the illegal act of adults manipulating minors, or other adults, into sharing sexually suggestive content online to extort their money, is the most rapidly growing crime targeting children in the US, Canada, and Australia, a new NCRI report said.
In October 2023, the FBI reported a 1,000% increase in financial sextortion incidents in the US over the past 18 months. This prompted several US government agencies to launch a national Public Safety Alert on the explosion of the threat.
Canada and Australia are observing a similar trend, with their domestic law enforcement agencies receiving between 200 and 300 complaints per month, respectively.
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