“A majority of them are teenage boys being friended by an attractive female out of the blue,” said Sgt. Garrick Nugent with the San Diego Police Department.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — What starts off as an innocent friend request from a fellow teenager can quickly turn into a conversation with someone pretending to be someone they are not. Kids and teens are being targeted by a dangerous scam online called sextortion, a crime that occurs when someone threatens to distribute private and sensitive material if one does not provide them with money.
“A majority of them are teenage boys being friended by an attractive female out of the blue,” said Sergeant Garrick Nugent with the San Diego Police Department. He says what appears to be an attractive female will send a child an inappropriate image and ask for one in return.
“They start demanding more and more and when the kids refuse to do so, that’s when the threats start,” said Sgt. Nugent.
Sergeant Nugent is the Task Force Commander with Internet Crimes Against Children, a group of detectives who investigate offenders who use the Internet and other online communication systems to sexually exploit children.
Many pay up because they don’t want to pay the price of humiliation. The…
