Sextortion is on the rise and “becoming more sophisticated”
- Feb 7, 2017
- 1 min read
Extortion and blackmail have been around for centuries, but with the rise of the Internet and advancing technology, they’ve now gone online.
This opinion article was originally featured in PantherNOW and discusses the rise of sextortion.
Check out the article’s excerpt below and click the link if you want to read the full story!
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Maytinee Kramer/Assistant Opinion Director
Extortion and blackmail have been around for centuries, but with the rise of the Internet and advancing technology, they’ve now gone online. As a result, online ‘sextortion’ is on the rise and becoming more sophisticated.
According to an April 2016 report to Congress by the U.S. Department of Justice, this kind of online extortion is becoming one of the biggest dangers online, especially to teens and young adults.
Between 2014 and 2015, there was a 90 percent increase in the total number of reports; a pattern that has continued. Sextortion reports also increased 150 percent within the first several months of 2016.
The FBI defines sextortion as a form of harassment and “a serious crime that occurs when someone threatens to distribute your private and sensitive material if you don’t provide them images of a sexual nature, sexual favors, or money.”
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Photo Credit: Flickr
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