‘Sextortion’ on the rise in UK as authorities fight online danger

World Today

‘Sextortion’ is a form of online blackmail, in which victims are persuaded to perform sexual acts in front of a webcam, before demands for money are made under threat.

The global rise of online ‘sextortion’ has reached unprecedented levels, according to new figures from the United Kingdom.

CGTN’s Richard Bestic reports on this rapidly emerging online danger.

The shocking online rise of so-called ‘sextortion’ is revealed by police figures, with the number of cases in the U.K. alone more than doubling to 864 victims in a year.

Britain’s National Crime Agency has issued a warning of the dangers with a staged video, in which an actress shows how the scam works.

On the set of the recording, an NCA officer, his name withheld, said the scam has reached an industrial scale.

The brutal reality of this callous Internet scam is that it can happen to just about anyone, anywhere in the world.


Wendy Patrick on sextortion prevention

To further discuss the means to prevent further victimization in sextortion, CGTN’s Susan Roberts spoke with Wendy Patrick, attorney and business ethics professor at San Diego State University.