The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 26,000 reports of online sextortion in 2023, a sharp increase from previous years, with victims ranging from 10 to 17 years old and losses exceeding 83 million dollars. Agents warn that perpetrators often operate from West Africa and Southeast Asia, targeting children on gaming platforms, social media and messaging apps, coercing victims into sending explicit images and then demanding payment under threat of distribution.
Sextortion unfolds in private messages where adult moderation and user reporting arrive too late to prevent trauma or payment. Anti-sextortion detection that analyses message context, image requests and financial coercion in real time can block the offender's approach before the child responds, surfacing the incident to a parent or school and enabling immediate referral to the FBI or NCMEC. As a Meta Business Partner, Guardii monitors direct messages across Instagram, Snapchat and other high-risk platforms, matching the threat landscape FBI data now describes.
