Financial Sextortion Schemes Mostly Target Teen Boys: Report

The report found that sextortion perpetrators often used Instagram to initiate contact with young people.

A child uses a digital device in an undated file photograph. MPIX/Shutterstock

A recent report has shown that financial sextortion schemes are on the rise and teenage boys are the primary targets.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received an average of 812 sextortion reports per week between August 2022 and August 2023, with more than two-thirds of these reports being “financially motivated,” according to a new report.