DENVER — Colorado authorities are seeing a rise in “sextortion,” and say juveniles are especially at risk.
Sextortion happens when a scammer convinces someone to send explicit photos, then blackmails them with those photos, according to Matt Peterson, supervisory agent in Homeland Security Investigation’s Denver division.
In 2020, HSI received roughly 25 tips related to sextortion cases. In just the first five months of 2022, the agency has received more than 200 tips.
“I think in general, [scammers are] targeting juveniles far more often than adults, but we have seen adults targeted as well,” Peterson said.
HSI Denver partners with Aurora Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit and other agencies to form the Colorado Cyber Guardian Task Force. The multi-agency effort discovered many sextortion cases stem from predators overseas, according to Peterson.
An undercover detective with Aurora police’s ICAC Unit says he’s helped investigate 12 sextortion cases this year alone.
“It seems like our cases have skyrocketed since COVID,” the detective said. “I think you have kids who were on the internet a lot more, they’re staying home. People in the workforce, these pedophiles and predators, are staying home more.”
Peterson isn’t sure what’s fueling the uptick, but believes profits could be a factor.
“These victims, they don’t want themselves exposed to the world, so they’re willing to pay money if they can,” he said. “So I think like so many other scams, it…
