Sextortion of boys on the rise in Canada

Young boys are the main target of sextortion scams online, according to Canadian statistics.

Cybertip.ca, the main tipline for reporting online exploitation of children, said in July there were 322 case files opened by victims and 92 per cent were boys or young men.

“These are victims coming forward and looking for some assistance,” director of Cybertip and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, Steven Sauer told CTV News.

TYPES OF SCAMS

There are two main ways that boys get caught up in these situations, according to the Cybertip website. They both begin when the boys believe they are interacting with someone their age.

“These individuals are posing as other similar-aged peers and they are then connecting with children and youth on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat and they are aggressively coercing them into sharing a sexual image or going onto a live stream where they can engage in sexual activity, recording that and then the threats start to come almost immediately after they gain that first image,” Sauer said.

“They’ll request money in exchange for not sharing the image with family and friends.”

Another way boys get involved is when sexual images of children are sent to them, according to the Cybertip website. They are then accused of being in possession of child pornography and they need to pay to protect themselves.

Statistics found that half of the victims were under 18 years old. The social media platforms that present the highest risk are Instagram (42 per cent), and Snapchat (38 per cent). Whatsapp (5.6 per cent) and Facebook (3.6 per cent) are also a risk.

Sauer said it was time to hold the companies that create these online spaces accountable.

“I think we need to start applying some pressure to these companies to do more in this space to safeguard children. It has really been an open free-for-all for kids. The fact that platforms like this allow youth to be targeted by strange adults and communicated with on a regular basis with strange adults with no restrictions in place is problematic.

“There probably needs to be some regulation in this space,” he said. “We see that the companies aren’t doing this voluntarily so now it’s the government’s turn to step in and start saying, ‘you have a duty of care to require the safety of your users.'”

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE SCAMMED

Sauer said if young boys do find themselves in these situations, they should stop communicating with the person making the threats.

“Block them as a user, deactivate your account and don’t comply with any payments.”

It’s also important to report when something like this happens, he said. Either to the police or through the cybertip.ca website.