Sextortion is increasing: Youngest victims in Austria are alarmingly affected!

Sextortion is increasing: Youngest victims in Austria are alarmingly affected!

More and more children and young people in Austria are victims of sextortion, a form of blackmail with nude photos or videos. According to the advice hotline Rat auf Draht, there were already 327 consultations on this topic in 2024, which corresponds to an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous year. The extreme increase is particularly alarming among 11 to 14 year olds, who are affected by an incredible increase of 178 percent, as the advice center announced on its website. The perpetrators use social networks such as Instagram and Snapchat, but also dating platforms and online games to target their victims, which further increases the risk for young people ( 5min.at ).

A frightening aspect is that criminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence to generate deceptively real images or videos. These are used to blackmail those affected and use them as “evidence” of their machinations, although the person sending the messages often does not even exist. “The suffering, shame and guilt of those affected are just as high as with real recordings,” explains Birgit Satke, head of the advice team at Rat auf Draht. In addition to the increase in female victims, which rose from 17 percent in 2023 to 28 percent in 2024, what is particularly worrying is how quickly perpetrators adapt their methods ( krone.at ).

Protective measures and responses

Those affected by sextortion are advised not to respond to the blackmailers' demands and not to make any payments, as this can only worsen the situation. Contact with the perpetrators should be stopped immediately and it is advisable to secure all evidence such as screenshots and report the incident to both the platform and the police. Fortunately, there are tools like the Take it Down tool for under 18s and STOPNCII for adults to help prevent the publication of intimate images. These tools work by creating a digital fingerprint of photos without uploading them, keeping users protected. The rapid increase in these incidents shows that education and preventive measures are urgently needed to protect young people and educate them about the dangers in the digital space ( 5min.at ).