Alert is issued to ALL British children over online 'sextortion

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Teachers were given an unprecedented alert yesterday about pupils being targeted in ‘sextortion’ scams.

The National Crime Agency warned all 570,000 primary and secondary teachers across Britain that children as young as five are at risk.

It is the first time the NCA has issued a national alert to schools and experts say it is urgently needed to stem a ‘sextortion epidemic’.

The number of children targeted by criminal gangs has risen by 266 per cent in just two years. The NCA said 243 fell victim in 2020 but this rocketed to 890 in 2022.

Ruthless criminal gangs from West Africa and South East Asia are luring in children online, tricking them into believing they are in a genuine relationship or friendship with someone their own age before demanding they share intimate photographs or film themselves on a webcam.

Blackmailers then threaten to release nude or semi-nude photos of them, either real or fake, to their friends and family unless they pay up.

The NCA warned yesterday that at least three children killed themselves as a result. In December, Murray Dowey, 16, from Dunblane, Perthshire, took his own life hours after being targeted in a sextortion blackmail plot with potential links to Nigeria.

Murray’s grieving mother Ros Dowey issued a desperate plea to other young victims of the scams. ‘Please don’t do what Murray did. Nothing is worth taking your own life. Nothing,’ she said. ‘No matter how terrified and awful you’re feeling at the moment, that will pass and this can be fixed.’

Murray Dowey, 16, (pictured) took his own life hours after being targeted in a sextortion blackmail plot with potential links to Nigeria

Dinal De Alwis, 16, (pictured) had just started sixth form when he killed himself after being blackmailed on social media over nude photographs

Mark and Ros Dowey said there ‘world has been shattered’ since losing their son Murray

‘They’ve totally destroyed our family,’ Mrs Dowey told the BBC.

In October 2022, Dinal De Alwis, 16, from Sutton, south London, killed himself after being blackmailed by a stranger suspected to be in Nigeria claiming to have nude pictures of him.

Police say all age groups and genders are being targeted, but a large proportion of cases have involved male teenagers aged from 14 to 18.

Teen who took his own life over £100 Snapchat threat

Dinal De Alwis had just started sixth form with hopes of studying at Cambridge when he was sent two nude photographs of himself by a blackmailer on Snapchat.

The sender threatened to forward the pictures to all of his friends unless he paid £100.

The 16-year-old, studying at a leading private school – Whitgift in south London – was found dead later that night. His blackmailer had sent a message saying: ‘So you think blocking me can stop me? What do you want me to do – you want me to send to all of your followers? Why can’t you just pay me? £100?’

An inquest in February ruled that the keen footballer and rugby player had committed suicide after being blackmailed by a stranger suspected to be in Nigeria.

His family, from Sutton, south London, described him as their ‘golden boy’. He had achieved straight A*s in his GCSEs.

In 2015, 428 sextortion cases were reported to police, most involving adults. And the latest figures for online blackmail show 13,322 cases in England and Wales in the year to September 2022. That equates to 36 victims a day.

More than half of cases were closed with no suspect identified because the perpetrators are often overseas.

Investigators say the crimes reported to police are the tip of the iceberg and they believe gangs are making millions of pounds targeting British children.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales found almost one in ten children aged 13 to 15 received a sexual message online in the past year and two thirds of those involved photos. Yesterday security minister Tom Tugendhat warned: ‘Sextortion destroys lives. It is often driven by highly sophisticated organised crime groups who exploit vulnerable people for profit.

‘It’s vital that technology companies take responsibility for the safety of their users by implementing stronger safeguards. I would urge parents to talk to their children about their use of social media. Even sites that many assume to be safe may pose a risk.’

In some instances children’s social media accounts are being hacked by blackmailers who impersonate them to target their friends and in other cases children are threatened that their own account has been compromised and their photos and messages will be sent to all contacts if they don’t pay up.

Marie Smith of the NCA said: ‘They’re extremely malicious, they do not care about that child or that child’s life.

‘This is why it’s an alert more so than part of our broader education programme because of this callousness that we’re seeing, it’s extremely dangerous.’

The NCA alert provides advice about spotting the signs of abuse, supporting young people and encouraging them to seek help. It also includes guidance for parents and carers on how to talk to their child about sextortion, and how to support them if they become a victim.

It advises victims not to pay, to block the offender and inform police.

Dinal (pictured) killed himself after being blackmailed by a stranger suspected to be in Nigeria claiming to have nude pictures of him

Dinal had been top of Whitgift School in Croydon in English and economics after achieving straight A*s in his GCSEs

According to the NCA, child victims have reported being contacted by an online account they do not know but which appears to be another child or young person.

Children have also reported being quickly engaged in sexually explicit communications, which might include the offender sharing an indecent image first. Young people also said they were manipulated or pressured into taking nude or semi-nude photos or videos, according to the NCA.

James Babbage, Director General for Threats at the National Crime Agency, said: ‘Sextortion is a callous crime. Perpetrators have no concern for victims or the lives that might be destroyed in the process. Their sole motivation is financial gain.

‘We are asking education professionals to help us raise awareness about this crime type, which is sadly increasing across the world. This alert is designed to guide them in supporting young people who may be targeted.

‘Sextortion causes immeasurable stress and anguish, and we know there are adults and young people who have devastatingly taken their own lives as a result.

‘A lot of victims feel responsible but we need them to know this is absolutely not the case; you are not to blame and help and support is available. As well as raising awareness with this alert, we want to encourage young people to report incidents to an adult they trust, the police or to the CEOP Safety Centre.’

Susie Hargreaves OBE, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), said: ‘Sextortion has become a major threat online in the last few years. This alert to schools is an absolutely crucial intervention in stemming this epidemic which has already ruined so many young lives.

‘These criminals are cold-blooded, and do not even care when the shame and fear they inflict drives some children to take their own lives.

‘We want children to know, however, they are not alone, no matter how lonely if feels, that there is a remedy, and a way to take control and fight back. The Report Remove tool we run with Childline is revolutionary and allows you to stop sexual imagery being shared or from going viral online.

‘Please, if you are being targeted this way, reach out. It is not a hopeless situation, and we are here to help you.’