'Do Not Pay': The Sextortion Scam Targeting Teenage Boys — And What Parents Must Do Next

Financially motivated sextortion is an online blackmail scheme in which criminals obtain or fabricate sexual images before threatening to send them to a victim's friends, relatives or classmates unless money is paid.

Teenage boys are frequent targets, with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children receiving more than 50,000 reports of financially motivated sextortion in 2025, averaging 137 a day, a 37% increase in daily reports from the previous year.

Parents who discover that their child is being sextorted should not pay or confront the blackmailer. They should tell the child they are not at fault, assess whether they are in immediate danger, preserve relevant evidence without redistributing sexual material, stop communication and report the crime.

How the Scam Works

The contact may begin on a social media, messaging, gaming or dating platform. An offender commonly uses a fake account to impersonate a young person before quickly moving the conversation towards sex or asking the victim to switch to a private service.

Once the criminal obtains an image or records a video call, the friendly conversation disappears. The victim may receive screenshots of their followers, draft messages addressed to relatives or a countdown designed to make distribution appear imminent.

The FBI warns that criminals may manipulate an ordinary photograph to create sexually explicit material and then threaten to share the fabrication. Not every case involves an authentic image.

The offender may demand payment through a bank or wire transfer, mobile-payment service, cryptocurrency or gift card. Even when victims comply, the FBI says criminals frequently demand more money and intensify their threats.

Why Boys Are Targeted

The FBI identifies boys aged 14 to 17 as typical victims of financially motivated sextortion, although girls, younger children and adults can also be targeted. Criminals exploit the fear that an image will reach parents, friends, classmates or other people the victim knows.

The consequences can be devastating. NCMEC says it knows of at least three dozen teenage boys in the US who have died by suicide after being victimised by financial sextortion since 2021.

That does not mean self-harm is inevitable. It means parents must take any expression of hopelessness, panic or suicidal thinking seriously while making clear that the child's safety matters more than an image or payment.

Remove the Shame First

A parent's first words can interrupt the criminal's control. Parents might start with something like: 'You are not in trouble. This is not your fault. We will deal with it together.'

Parents should remain calm even if the child broke a household rule or sent an image voluntarily. Questions about why the teenager trusted the account can wait; during the initial crisis, blame may reinforce the shame keeping the victim silent.

Ask directly whether the child feels safe and whether they are considering harming themselves. If there is an immediate threat to life, contact emergency services and do not leave the child alone.

Threatening permanent device confiscation can also discourage disclosure. The teenager asking for help should not be blamed for what happened.

Do Not Pay

Official guidance from the FBI, Britain's National Crime Agency and Australia's eSafety Commissioner advises victims not to pay or engage with the blackmailer. Payment does not guarantee that images will be deleted or kept private, and it can signal that the victim may respond to further demands.

Do not send additional images, identification documents or account information. Do not attempt to bargain for deletion or arrange an independent confrontation.

If the child has already paid, stop further transfers without scolding them. Contact the bank, card issuer, money-transfer company or payment platform immediately, as a provider may be able to cancel a recent transaction if action is taken quickly, although recovery is not guaranteed.

Preserve Evidence, Then Block

Before blocking the offender, preserve usernames, profile links, threats, dates, phone numbers, email addresses and payment instructions. Bank details and cryptocurrency wallet addresses may also help investigators identify connected cases.

Do not permanently delete the victim's account or conversation before seeking advice. Where available, temporarily deactivating an account may hide it from public view while retaining information investigators could need.

Parents should not forward, redistribute or unnecessarily download a sexual image involving anyone under 18, even when trying to document the crime. Preserve the surrounding threats and identifying details, then ask law enforcement how the image itself should be handled.

After capturing the necessary information, report and block the offending account. Change the child's passwords, starting with their main email account, enable multifactor authentication and review logged-in devices and account-recovery details.

Report the Crime

In the US, families can submit a report to NCMEC's CyberTipline and contact the FBI through tips.fbi.gov, 1-800-CALL-FBI or a local field office. Immediate danger should be reported to 911.

In the UK, online sexual abuse involving a child can be reported through the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command's Safety Centre. Families can also contact police on 101, or 999 when someone is in immediate danger.

Australians can report abuse involving someone under 18 to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation. The eSafety Commissioner also accepts reports involving sextortion and image-based abuse, while Triple Zero should be used for emergencies.

Reporting matters even if the offender is abroad or the account has disappeared. Criminal groups may target numerous children, and information from one victim can help authorities connect accounts, payments and recurring tactics.

Stop the Image Spreading

NCMEC's Take It Down service can help people who fear that a nude or sexual image or video taken when they were under 18 has been or may be shared online. The tool creates a digital fingerprint, known as a hash, on the user's device.

The image or video does not have to be uploaded to NCMEC; participating platforms use the hash to look for matching material on their public or unencrypted services. Not every platform participates, and private or encrypted services may be inaccessible.

In the UK, people under 18 can use Report Remove through Childline to report sexual images or videos of themselves to the Internet Watch Foundation. Neither service can guarantee that every copy will disappear, and removal can take time.

Secure the Accounts

Parents should check whether the offender obtained the child's phone number, school details, home location or names of relatives. Restrict who can send messages, view follower lists or tag the child.

Warn close friends not to accept new profiles claiming to represent them, and report any impersonation accounts. These measures can restrict further access, but weak privacy settings did not cause the crime.

Talk Before It Happens

Parents should discuss sextortion before a crisis occurs, including fake profiles, manipulated images, sexual pressure and rapid demands to move conversations between platforms. A live photograph or video call does not necessarily prove that someone is who they claim to be.

Children should treat sudden sexualisation, secrecy demands and threats as reasons to end contact and seek help. The most important family rule is not merely 'never send an image'. It is: 'If something goes wrong online, tell me. You will not be in trouble.'

Parents cannot control every account that approaches a child. They can make sure shame never leaves that child facing a criminal alone.