Online sextortion is a form of financial fraud that has become increasingly prevalent over the past year.

In some cases in the UK, US and Australia teenagers have killed themselves after being targeted by cybercriminals, who typically operate out of west Africa or south-east Asia.

The fraudsters seek to extort victims, typically boys, by tricking them into sending intimate pictures of themselves and then demanding money by threatening to release the images online – including to friends and family.

Here is a guide to how sextortion fraudsters work and how to deal with such attacks.

How do sextortion attacks happen?

The attacks typically take place over social media and messaging platforms. According to data from the Internet Watch Foundation, a child safety watchdog, teenage boys are the most likely victims but incidents involving girls have risen sharply since the beginning of the year.

In sextortion attempts, a chat over social media becomes flirtatious unexpectedly and quickly. In examples involving boys, they are sometimes sent pictures of the “girl” in the conversation, which are in fact random pictures taken from social media profiles. Examples heard by Childline, a counselling service, indicate that contact has been made on platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, Wizz, Discord and the video chat app Omegle. In some cases, the victim is encouraged to switch to a different platform, such as a private messaging app.

They are then asked to send intimate selfies in image or video format. Once that happens, law enforcement and child safety sources say the tone of communication changes sharply, escalating immediately to demands for money alongside a threat that the material will be shared online, including with friends and family on the victim’s social media profile.

Blackmailers are aware that youngsters don’t have access to large amount of money or credit cards, so can demand small amounts as Amazon gift cards or by PayPal, but have also been known to keep coming back for more.

What should you do if your child has fallen for a sextortion scam?

The National Crime Agency, which is taking a leading role in tackling sextortion in the UK, says you should not pay the perpetrator, as there is no guarantee this will stop the threats. You should also stop communicating with the fraudster and block them on social media and messaging platforms. And you should keep evidence such as messages, images, phone numbers and bank account details that could be used to identify the perpetrator.

One of the first challenges, says Det Supt Michelle Findlay, the Police Scotland lead on sextortion, “is that sometimes people who are reporting don’t understand that they are actually victims. They think that they are complicit in the offending. So we have to help young people understand that they have been targeted. 

“There’s an embarrassment factor at play – you don’t want your parents or your peers to know you’ve been caught out. Young people feel they are the ones who are technologically savvy and they should know better. Explain that the people perpetrating these crimes are very organised and very clever.”

The shame of being taken in is a big driver of people’s silence, says Amanda Dashwood, the sextortion lead for the Revenge Porn Helpline. “A lot of people don’t see the point in going to the police because they know the perpetrator is overseas, and their primary goal is to stop the content being shared, or if it has been, to get it removed.”

But police forces across the UK encourage young people and their parents to report these incidents, promising to treat victims respectfully and without judgment and underlining that it helps them to prevent future crimes.

Can social media platforms take images down?

The NSPCC and the Internet Watch Foundation operate Report Remove, a service that allows children to anonymously flag intimate images or videos of themselves that they have sent to sextortion fraudsters. The service turns those images into a “hash”, or digital fingerprint, which is shared with major tech platforms, which can take the image down or prevent it from being uploaded. However, the service is not able to locate the image on private messaging services such as WhatsApp, which are encrypted.

What can families do to help children?

Experts recommend creating an environment in which children feel they can discuss difficult or embarrassing matters.

Dr Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist who specialises in working with adolescents and their families, says families should create everyday opportunities to make talking easy, such as at a meal or during regular car trips. She adds that when a child approaches you to talk, you should underline that you are paying attention by putting away your phone or devices.

Blair also counsels against overreacting. “Sextortion is terrible, but so is any act that takes advantage of your child and abuses their trust. If you’re a bit calmer about the topic, they will be as well.”

Parents should describe very clearly what a sextortion threat looks like and how other young people have dealt with it – victims report they don’t feel as isolated when they hear that others have experienced something similar – as well as chatting regularly about online life in general. You can’t emphasise often enough that you lose control of an image online as soon as you send it to another person, whoever they are or purport to be.

Tamsin McNally of the Internet Watch Foundation says: “Young people need to be aware that who they are talking to online may not be who they say they are. It can be very easy to go along with something in the moment, but if that happens, they should have in the back of their mind there are places to help them, and we’re not judging them at all.”

• In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org