(WFRV) – Due to recent instances, police in Wisconsin are offering tips to the public on how to protect themselves against falling victim to sextortion.
According to a release from the Plymouth Police Department, officers have been called upon to investigate multiple instances of sextortion over the past few months.
Investigation underway after woman found dead in a Waushara County home
Police say sextortion is a criminal behavior in which someone illicitly obtains sexually explicit or compromising images of a victim with the intent to threaten to post or share the photos publicly unless the victim provides additional sexual material or money.
Officials report that sextortion is becoming increasingly common throughout the County, with the victims in the incidents dealt with by Plymouth police ranging from 19 to 73-years-old.
Each case was said to be overall similar, with only slight differences seen. Each incident started with the victims accepting a friend request from someone on social media whom they did not know personally, and then engaging in continued conversation with that person, with messages going back and forth.
In two recent incidents, police say the conversations moved to the messaging app WhatsApp and began to turn sexual in nature, with the unknown individual convincing the victim to send explicit photos and/or videos of themselves.
Once the explicit content was sent, the individual would then demand money or additional sexual content, threatening to send the already received content of the victim to family and friends. In some cases, the individual would threaten that the victim had sent the explicit content to a minor and demanded money to avoid contacting the police.
Officials say the victims in these recent cases all paid some money and contacted police when the unknown individuals continued to ask for more money.
WATCH: Green Bay Police Department conducts ice diving and body recovery training
To avoid falling victim to sextortion, police have offered the following tips:
- Don’t accept social media requests from unknown individuals.
- Don’t send explicit photos to anyone, especially those who have not been met in person, even if they send explicit photos first.
- Do not pay them, if they have already been paid, do not continue to pay them, as they will never stop asking for more money.
- Stop all contact with the individual, block them, and report their account to whatever platform they were conversing on.
- Screenshot the conversations with the offender (minus the explicit photos), and contact local police or the Internet Cyber Complaint Center.
Police report that all across the United States, multiple sextortion victims have committed suicide due to the perceived shame and embarrassment. It is important to know that victims are not alone, and the following are some of the resources available:
- Anyone feeling suicidal or having a desire to hurt themselves should call or text the National Suicide & Crisis Hotline at 988.
- Text “THORN” to 741741 to speak with a licensed counselor. Thorn is the group behind the website https://www.stopsextortion.com/
- If the victim is underage, report the incident at https://report.cybertip.org/ Survivor Services from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children will reach out with additional resources.
No other information is available at this time.
