Twin Falls ID Parents Beware Of ‘Sextortion’ Targeting Area Teens

Idaho parents have yet another reason to chat with their kids about Internet safety after a relatively new, online predatory crime is causing high school-aged kids to take their own lives. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has a division that monitors suspicious cyber activity, has shared details about an act that combines threats, intimidation, and blackmail.

The Internet can be both incredibly useful and shockingly destructive for human beings. It's the only tool of its kind where predators can earn the trust of total strangers by gaining access to unprotected information and property such as photographs, videos, workplace locations, and schools that online victims attend.

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The Idaho Missing Persons Clearinghouse website recently shared the story of a 2021 case where a 15-year-old took his own life after falling victim to sextortion.

As a parent to two kids, I frequently remind them not to accept friend requests on social media from people they don't know and to watch for suspicious profile pictures. With the recent news of the TikTok ban in the United States, I wouldn't be surprised if President Donald Trump's cyber security team targets other websites that give easy access to the personal lives of our vulnerable youth.

The term, Sextortion, is probably unfamiliar to many people in the world. I just heard of it for the first time this week. In a nutshell, it's when a stranger reaches out to someone and claims to be a peer, then after gaining access to the victim's social media account through friending, claims to have nude pictures of the individual and threatens to share the content if money isn't paid to them.

The Idaho Missing Persons Clearinghouse website recently shared the story of a 2021 case where a 15-year-old took his own life after falling victim to sextortion.