Sextortion criminals targeting 11-year-olds

Children as young as 11 are being targeted by sextortion criminals for the first time, according to new data.

- Dan Milmo and Libby Brooks

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said the "worrying" trend showed that criminals behind extortion attempts were casting their nets wider in an attempt to trap victims.

Sextortion is a form of blackmail where teenagers - typically boys, although incidents involving girls have also risen sharply in recent years - are tricked into sending intimate pictures of themselves to fraudsters, who have made contact on social media and messaging platforms.

The criminals then demand money and threaten to share the material with others.

The UK-based internet safety watchdog said it had five confirmed reports of children aged between 11 and 13 falling victim to sextortion attempts last year, out of a total of 175 confirmed incidents involving under-17s. The 2024 total was marginally lower than the 176 recorded in the prior year, but the IWF said sextortion remained a "huge problem".