Officials in Central Georgia warn of 'financial sextortion' scam targeting juveniles

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Federal and local investigators are seeing an alarming and disturbing online trend. More young people are being targeted in what's known as "financial sextortion" scams.

"Someone contacts a juvenile on social media. Instagram and Snapchat are usually the ones we see, and then they also convince them that they are a juvenile," Lieutenant Darin Meadows said.
The Lieutenant says that's often when explicit photos are exchanged.
From there, the suspect now has photos and leverage. That's when what officials call a "financial sextortion" scam begins.

"They then demand payment from the juvenile, or they will post these to their friends or on their social media and tag them on them and then the juveniles will then freak out, or sometimes they will comply and pay them money," he continued.

The FBI says people reported more than 7,000 cases of sextortion in 2022.
In Houston County, they've seen nearly a dozen over the past several years-- including four last year.

"Somewhere they have actually posted the explicit photos to family members of the juvenile; it was very embarrassing for them, and somewhere they didn't," he explained.

Meadows says young boys are usually the target of the scam, and investigators have traced some suspects to Nigeria. Unfortunately, that makes it impossible to prosecute.
To help families avoid falling victim, the Internet Crimes against children task force program teaches awareness and prevention.

Meadows says one red flag is random people contacting you quickly wanting to exchange photos.
And if you're in doubt:

"If you don't know who you're communicating with, be safe and don't exchange explicit information of any kind with them," he said.

Meadows says never comply. Don't send more money, pictures or videos and tell an adult. Anyone who believes they may be a part of the scam can report it to local authorities or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.