#DontBeExposed
Online grooming and sextortion
Online grooming refers to the deliberate actions taken by an adult or young person to form a trusting relationship with a child, someone younger, someone they've matched with on a dating app and is of similar age, or someone vulnerable, with the intent of later facilitating sexual contact.
Sexually explicit messages, images and videos may be exchanged and the offender may entice the child by sending them gifts or money.
Grooming can take place in chat rooms, through instant messaging, social networking sites or email.
Offenders will contact dozens of young people, communication will quickly become sexually explicit and any positive response will be seized on.
The grooming process can take a matter of hours or years.
A recent online survey showed that dozens of young people meet with strangers they have spoken to online.
Online grooming is one of our biggest threats, it is a growing crime with more than half of the cases relating to sexual exploitation starting online.
‘Sextortion’ is the short name for ‘financially motivated sexual extortion’. It’s a type of online blackmail where criminals threaten to share sexual pictures, videos, or information about you. They may be trying to take money from you or forcing you to do something else you don’t want to.
Anyone can be a victim of sextortion. However, young people aged between 15 to 17, and adults aged under 30 are often most at risk.
What happens
When sexual exploitation happens online, you may be persuaded, or forced, to:
- send or post sexually explicit images of yourselves
- take part in sexual activities via a webcam or smartphone
- have sexual conversations by text or online
- abusers may threaten to send images, video or copies of conversations to your friends and family unless you take part in other things
- Images or videos may continue to be shared long after the sexual abuse has stopped
How to recognise sextortion
Sextortion can be committed by individuals, but organised crime gangs are usually behind it.
Criminals often target people through dating apps, social media, webcams, or pornography sites. They may use a fake identity to befriend you online. If a person you’ve just met online chats to you in a sexual way, or asks for sexual images, it might be an attempt at sextortion.
You should be wary if someone you've met online
• is trying to start a relationship with you very quickly (they may even send you a sexual image first)
• has sent friend requests to lots of people, not just you
• repeatedly asks you to do sexual things that you’re not comfortable with
• tells you they’ve hacked your account or have access to your contacts
Sextortion attempts can happen very quickly, or they can happen over a long time.
You should never share sexual images or information about yourself if you are not comfortable.
Tips for protecting yourself
If you are chatting to new people online:
•Review your privacy settings. Criminals are less likely to target you if they can’t see who your friends and family are.
• If you’re not comfortable speaking to the person or being contacted by someone you don’t know, end the chat quickly.
• If you have any doubts about the person or are worried you are being targeted, report it. Alternatively, see ‘Useful links’ further down this page for further advice on staying safe. This includes knowing how to report or remove images from the web.
What to do if you've been targeted
If you are a victim of sextortion, it’s not your fault. There is help and support available.
•Don’t panic, help and support is available.
• Stop all communication with the offender immediately.
• Don’t pay, even if you are tempted, as there is no guarantee that this will stop the threats.
Save the evidence:
• take screenshots
• save messages and images
• make a note of usernames, email addresses, phone numbers and bank account numbers
• Collect URL links to where your images or information is being shared online.
Most social media sites have rules against sharing intimate content without consent. You should be able to get the material removed.
If you’ve paid the person, consider telling your bank. They may not be able to get any money back, but it helps us and the banks to know it’s happened.
Report it:
We understand that it might be difficult to report this type of crime to us. We're here to listen and support you in any way we can.
What can parents do
- understand the risks associated with your child being online
- talk to your child about these potential risks
- talk to your child about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships
- be aware of the tell-tale signs that may indicate your child is being sexually exploited
Signs to look out for if you suspect your child is being groomed online
- secretive behaviour, including about what they are doing online
- having older boyfriends or girlfriends
- going to unusual places to meet friends
- having new things such as clothes or mobile phones that they can’t or won’t explain
- having access to drugs and alcohol
Advice and help
If you suspect that you or someone you know, is being groomed, tell someone you trust. You can also contact us on 101 or 999 in an emergency.
For more advice and to report any concerns:
- Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
- NSPCC
- Think u know
- Say something national helpline -116 000
- Local social care services
You can report intimate image abuse to us
• by calling 101
• if you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service on 18001 101
• if you are under 18, you can report sextortion, or any other form of online child sexual abuse, to the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Safety Centre
Adults
- Revenge Porn Online gives free, confidential help to victims living in the UK.
Stop NCII (Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse) is a free tool to help detect and remove images from being shared online - Samaritans is a free, confidential listening service for any issue
- Get safe online provides factual and easy to understand information on online safety.
Children and young people
- Report Remove allows you to confidentially report sexual images and videos of yourself and get them removed from the internet
- Childline gives free, confidential support for young people under the age of 19
- Young Minds is a mental health charity for children and young people with 24 hours a day, seven days a week text support
- Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) Education gives advice for parents, children, and young people on staying safe from sexual abuse and online grooming.
Other help
- National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) can help if you’ve been the victim of phishing or hacking or need advice on protecting your data online.
- Action Fraud – Romance Fraud can help if you think a partner, you met online is trying to get money from you but isn’t threatening or extorting you. This is known as ‘romance fraud’.
Hear more from our Police Online Investigations Team
We have a dedicated Police Online Investigations Team who work with a variety of other agencies to help promote the safe, responsible, and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.
Their message is always relevant, so have a read of the below to find out more about them and the work they do.
