Overview
- The survey of more than 2,500 parents found one in five know a child affected and two in five rarely or never discuss online blackmail with their children.
- One in three parents said technology firms and the government are failing to prevent online blackmail, according to the NSPCC.
- The National Crime Agency is recording more than 110 child sextortion reports each month, with criminals often posing as young women on Snapchat and Instagram and demanding around £100.
- Authorities and charities report schemes increasingly target boys, with coverage indicating roughly 90% of sextortion victims are males aged 14 to 17.
- The NSPCC says threats range from releasing intimate images to exposing private information, sometimes using AI-generated material, and it urges built-in platform safeguards and better education for parents and schools.