Sextortion: a growing threat

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Last week, an 18-year-old died by suicide after falling victim to sextortion. The young man in South Wales took his own life after being targeted by scammers in Africa, who had financially blackmailed him by threatening to distribute his intimate images online (BBC, 2026). His is just one in a number of deaths by suicide related to sextortion. Already, more sextortion-related reports have been filed in the last six months than in the whole of 2025 (IWF, 2026); sextortion is a growing threat - one that needs urgent attention..

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Sextortion occurs when a blackmailer threatens to distribute intimate images of someone unless they receive payment; often, these images have been obtained by coercion or deceit. Commonly, scammers pose as young women; build rapport; convince vulnerable young men they are entering a mutual sexual relationship, and consequently obtain intimate images from them online. Concerningly, this blackmail process is frequently targeted at children under 18,  mostly at boys. The Internet Watch Foundation has found that boys made up 97% of confirmed sextortion cases between January and June 2025 (IWF, 2025). 

The tragic death of Cai Davies

More needs to be done to protect young boys from sextortion. We must begin by opening up a conversation, and reminding boys who fall victim to the scam that they have done nothing wrong, and won’t be in trouble if they reach out. Shame prevents boys accessing help, and the consequences of stigma can be dire. It is encouraging to see that sextortion has been incorporated onto the new RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) curriculum. The next step is tackling the platforms that host the scammers. Social media platforms must enforce stricter identity verification for new users to prevent scammers setting up hundreds of spoof accounts, and thus make it harder for operations countering sextortion to work at scale.

The tragic death of Cai Davies, reported on the BBC last month, highlights the real-life consequences.

The IWF and Childline have developed a tool to enable young people in the UK to confidentially report sexual images and videos of themselves online.

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 If you or anyone you know are a victim of sextortion, please refer to their tool Report Remove.

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