Dirty business

How sextortion drives young people to their deaths

The dirty business of sextortion is flourishing and is increasingly affecting children and young people.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Dimid, Visualism – stock.adobe.com)

The scam is well known, and yet thousands of people continue to fall victim to it every year: sextortion. The dirty blackmail business with lewd videos and photos is the fastest growing scam that increasingly affects children and young people. In the USA alone, sextortion has been linked to dozens of suicides. Krone+ tells you what warning signs you should look out for and what to do in an emergency.

Sextortion is a combination of the terms "sex" and "extortion" and, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office, refers to a criminal practice "in which a person is blackmailed with image and video material showing them performing sexual acts or naked".

Initially, the perpetrators mostly aimed to satisfy their own sexual desires by extorting more and more footage, but now they are increasingly interested in naked money. Those who don't pay are publicly exposed; those who do pay are often exposed too. The shame associated with this often drives young victims in particular to suicide.