Parents routinely prepare their children to navigate various life challenges, but online safety experts now stress the urgent need to address a growing digital threat: sextortion.
Though this issue is not new, perpetrators have evolved their methods, using advanced tools like deepfake technology to manipulate and extort teenagers. Criminal organizations, particularly from Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire, have targeted teens for financial sextortion, leading to tragic cases where victims, overwhelmed by threats, have taken their own lives.