FBI: ‘Sextortionists’ are blackmailing teenage boys recorded in online sex acts

Many victims of sextortion become embarrassed or ashamed, and children who are targeted may worry that they will get in trouble for being on a website they were too young for or accepting gifts from someone online. — Photo by Ernest Ojeh on Unsplash

FBI officials are warning that criminals are posing as young girls to fool a growing number of teenage boys into performing sexual acts on camera that wind up being recorded and used to blackmail them.

Investigators based in Los Angeles have received dozens of reports of “sextortion” targeting young boys, FBI officials said in a news release.