Snapchat and Discord 'sextortion' schemes are targeting minors

A former Snapchat employee recently reported on some of the potential dangers young men often face when using the social media app. Sextortion has been known to occur for girls, but it has also been increasingly common for young boys. 

The employee divulged the dangers of sextortion on the app and said that the perpetrators in these cases are "just trying to get money" and will do what it takes to meet that goal. 

Oftentimes, a bad actor will pose as a young woman online and ask a young man to send nude photos. After they are sent, the perpetrator screenshots the photos or takes them on another phone to avoid Snapchat's function notifying the other person that a screenshot was taken.

After the photos are obtained, the young man who sends them is blackmailed into sending cash in exchange for the predator to not publicly share the nude photos. 

The employee said that "[they're targeting men because young men are the most likely to fall for this type of scheme." He added that they are "not used to... being targeted like this."

In the case of young women, the bad actors typically demand more nude photos rather than money, and threaten to expose the pictures should the young woman not comply. 

Another app that is commonly used for sex crimes against minors is Discord. Originally a hub for gamers, it grew through the time of the pandemic.

A report identified 165 different cases where adults were receiving explicit material from minors on Discord. This included four crime rings.

In addition to its decentralized structure, the app has a young user base, making children a particularly vulnerable target. A report from the nonprofit organization, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), identified that there was a 474% increase in child exploitation on Discord from 2021 to 2022.

The FBI has seen massive "increases in the number of cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online" in recent years. 

Other reports from the NCMEC show that in the last three years, there has been a 52 percent increase in online child sexual abuse. 

Previously, Loren Coffren, the executive director of NCMEC, said, “Unfortunately, we are seeing a rise in the amount of financially motivated child sexual exploitation. Just in the past year alone, we’ve seen an increase in sextortion of minors. Mostly, teenage male boys."

In 2022 alone, there were over 32 million reports of suspected online child exploitation.