Police warn reports of sextortion in Lethbridge are on the rise

Reports of sexual images or videos being used to blackmail victims in Lethbridge have more than doubled compared to the same time last year, according to police.

In a news release issued Wednesday, the Lethbridge Police Service said its officers have received 43 reports of sextortion attempts so far in 2022. At this point last year, the LPS had received 20 such reports.

“The threat alone can have a devastating impact,” police said. “Of the cases reported to the Lethbridge Police Service this year, 20 per cent of the victims were under the age of 18, with the youngest being 13.

“Youth are particularly vulnerable due to increased time spent online and the popularity of live-streaming services during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Catherine Tabak, a program manager with cybertip.ca, said cybertip.ca saw 85 reports from across Canada in July 2021, compared to 322 in July of this year.

READ MORE: Canada’s sextortion boom coincides with pandemic’s online shift

Police noted that younger people “may also be embarrassed and hesitant to seek adult assistance, and will often comply with threats to try and manage the situation on their own.”

1:54 Child luring and sextortion cases online spike since start of pandemic

The LPS said none of the reports filed this year have resulted in charges at this point.

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“Sextortion demands for money often come from international organized crime networks, which can make criminal investigations a challenge.”

READ MORE: Dutch man arrested for ‘sextortion’ of Lethbridge boy: ALERT

Police said in Lethbridge, 91 per cent of sextortion victims are male.

“According to cybertip.ca, which is run by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, boys are typically extorted for money and girls for more images,” police said.

“The vast majority are young males between the ages of 15 to even early 20s that tend to be the most prevalent target(s) with these types of crimes,” Tabak told Global News.

“We understand from our perspective that young males do unfortunately become more vulnerable to these types of crimes because they do tend to be more impulsive online and do tend to do more of that sexual exploration online.”

Tabak called for social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat to take action.

“We know that their platforms are being used for these types of crimes and they have the technology that they can use to prevent it from happening,” she said. “These platforms are unfortunately appealing to kids in this age group, and we just need to see them doing more in this space.”

Police said victims are usually asked to pay their tormentors through online payment services or through online gift cards.

“Locally, 21 per cent of victims sent more images or videos, while 14 per cent sent money to the extortionist,” police said.

Victims of sextortion in Lethbridge are asked to call the LPS at 403-328-4444. If young people feel more comfortable reporting sextortion attempts to a teacher or school counsellor, police said school employees can report the incidents to them if they have consent from victims.

The Lethbridge School Division said the warning from LPS is an important reminder of the shared responsibility of engaging youth about safe technology use.

“The division, along with our schools, have hosted a number of digital citizenship evenings over the last number of years, and we continue to examine further opportunities,” a statement reads.

“Teaching students how to responsibly and safely use technology is a shared responsibility, and to that end, the division will continue to provide educational and skill-building opportunities to support students and families.”

The LPS said anyone who is the victim of a sextortion attempt can follow the advice of cybertip.ca:

• Immediately stop all communication.
• Deactivate (but don’t delete) any of the accounts you are using to communicate with the individual.
• Do not comply with the threat. In other words, never pay money and never send additional nude photos. The situation will not get better by doing either of these things. If the youth has paid money, check to see if it has been collected and, if not, quickly cancel the payment.
• Dealing with sextortion is too big for the youth to manage on their own.
• Keep the correspondence. Keep information such as the person’s username(s), social media account information, a copy of the communications, along with any images and/or videos that were sent.

–With files from Eloise Therien, Global News