Sextortion is by no means a new tactic but a local wave is alarming just the same and will
hopefully wake up parents and guardians of the threats targeting their teens. The
Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office shared on Tuesday that it was brought to the attention
of a local School Resource Officer that students are receiving text messages from random
numbers with the individuals acting like they texted the wrong number to then start up a
conversation with the teen. “They insist they have seen them on their Snapchat account,”
shares the announcement. “The person then starts sending images, some explicit to the
kids asking for pictures and videos in return. The person then tries to blackmail the
students wanting money not to show the images or videos received.”
FBI.gov defines this behavior as sextortion which is a serious crime that occurs when someone threatens to distribute sensitive material if you don’t provide them images of a sexual nature, sexual favors, or money. This scam of course also happens to adults but the Duchesne
County Sheriff’s Office message is that parents should talk with their children to make
them aware not to send images out to anyone they do not know and to talk with a trusted
adult if they do get these types of texts.
