Young Australian men and boys are being targeted by a rapidly growing form of online blackmail in which criminals use fake romantic interest, stolen photographs and increasingly sophisticated technology to pressure victims into sharing intimate material.
The crime is commonly known as sexual extortion, or sextortion. It begins when an offender makes contact through a social media platform, messaging service, dating application or online game. The conversation may appear friendly, flirtatious and completely harmless.
Once trust has been established, the offender encourages the victim to send an intimate image or participate in a private video call. The tone can then change almost instantly.
The victim is told that the material will be sent to relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues or social media contacts unless money is paid or further content is provided.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner says it received more than 3,300 reports of sexual extortion during 2025. Around 86% of those reports came from males, while men aged 18 to 24 accounted for 42% of reports made by males. Authorities have warned that Australians of every age can be targeted, including children.
How the scam begins
The first message may come from an attractive profile that appears genuine. The account may have photographs, followers, comments and personal details designed to make it look like a real person.
The offender may spend time talking to the victim, showing interest in their life and gradually moving the conversation into a more personal or sexual direction.
Some scammers use stolen photographs and prerecorded videos. Others use artificial intelligence to create or alter images, making it increasingly difficult for victims to determine whether the person contacting them is genuine.
The scam succeeds because it does not initially feel like a crime. It can feel like an ordinary private conversation between two people who are interested in each other.
Once an intimate image has been obtained, however, the offender reveals the real purpose of the contact.
The threats are designed to create panic
Sextortion offenders often try to prevent their victims from thinking clearly. They may display screenshots showing the victim’s friends or relatives and threaten to send the material immediately.
They can demand money within minutes, repeatedly call the victim and warn that any attempt to block them will result in the images being distributed.
The threats may include claims that the material has already been uploaded or scheduled for release. These statements are intended to produce maximum fear and urgency.
The offender wants the victim to believe there is no time to ask for help. Shame and embarrassment are used to isolate the person from the very people who could support them.
eSafety warns that the purpose of these tactics is often quick financial gain. The organisation says victims can experience intense fear, panic, psychological distress and financial loss.
Young men are being targeted heavily
Sextortion can affect anyone, but current Australian reporting data shows young men are being targeted at particularly high rates.
A joint research project by eSafety and the Australian Institute of Criminology surveyed 1,953 Australians aged between 16 and 18. It found that 11.3% had experienced sexual extortion. Of those affected, 57.7% said it had first happened before they turned 16.
This creates an important challenge for families and schools.
Online-safety discussions have often focused on protecting girls from exploitation and unwanted contact. That remains essential, but boys also need direct and practical warnings about how these scams operate.
They need to understand that an attractive profile may be fake, a private video call may be recorded and an image sent in a moment of trust can be used as a weapon.
Most importantly, boys need to know that asking for help will not result in blame or punishment.
Victims should not be shamed
A person targeted by sextortion has been deliberately deceived and manipulated. Blaming the victim only strengthens the offender’s ability to control them.
Parents and carers should remain calm if a young person reveals that they are being threatened. Anger, judgement or immediate punishment may make the victim feel more isolated and less willing to disclose important information.
eSafety advises trusted adults to listen without judgement, reassure the victim that the crime is not their fault and help them take the appropriate reporting steps. The support of a trusted adult can make a significant difference when a young person feels frightened or overwhelmed.
The conversation should focus on safety, preserving evidence and stopping further contact—not on criticising the victim for sending an image.
What victims should do
Victims should preserve evidence of the blackmail, including usernames, account details, messages, payment demands and the times and dates of contact. Screenshots or screen recordings may help investigators and online platforms respond.
The offender should then be blocked, and privacy and security settings should be reviewed to limit further contact.
People are advised not to continue negotiating with the blackmailer. Paying money may not end the threats and can lead to further demands.
When the victim is under 18, the matter should be reported to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation. Adults can report the account to the platform or messaging service where the contact occurred. If an intimate image has been shared, it can also be reported through eSafety’s image-based abuse reporting system.
Victims should also speak to someone they trust rather than attempting to manage the situation alone.
Technology companies are also under scrutiny
The responsibility cannot rest entirely with parents and victims.
An eSafety transparency report identified gaps in how major technology services detect and respond to sexual extortion. It found that some services lacked clear reporting categories, while private messaging and video systems remained difficult environments in which to detect abuse.
The report examined information provided by companies including Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Snap and WhatsApp. eSafety said services should make greater use of available tools capable of identifying coercive language and known offender tactics.
Scammers can move rapidly between platforms, create new accounts and contact victims from outside Australia. That means effective prevention requires cooperation between families, schools, law enforcement, regulators and technology companies.
The conversation families need to have
Parents do not need to understand every new application or online trend to have a useful conversation with their children.
The most important message is simple: anyone can be deceived online, and help remains available even after an intimate image has been sent.
Young people should be warned never to assume a private image will remain private and to be cautious when a stranger quickly moves a conversation toward sexual content.
They should also know exactly who they can contact without fear of judgement if something goes wrong.
More than 3,300 Australian reports in a single year show that sextortion is not a rare or distant danger. It is a widespread form of organised online manipulation that is reaching Australian homes, schools and young people.
The question is no longer whether boys are being targeted. The evidence shows that they are.
The urgent question is whether parents, educators and technology companies are doing enough to warn them before a seemingly harmless conversation becomes a terrifying demand for money.