The Australian eSafety Commissioner recently launched a new campaign to raise awareness of sexual extortion, or “sextortion”. Targeted primarily at men, the campaign features AI-generated videos of attractive women attempting to lure men into financial scams.
It’s responding to a growing problem – this form of image-based abuse is being reported more and more all over the world.
We recently surveyed more than 16,000 respondents across ten countries. We found one in seven (14.5%) adults have experienced sextortion, while 4.8% admitted to being a perpetrator.
What is sextortion?
Sextortion is a form of image-based abuse. It involves making threats to share nude or sexual images to coerce the victim into complying with certain behavioural or financial demands. These can include paying a ransom, sharing intimate images or engaging in unwanted acts.
Around the world, law enforcement and online safety agencies have noted significant increases in sextortion reports, particularly from young men. In 2025, the Australian eSafety Commissioner received more than 3,300 reports of sextortion through its image-based abuse scheme.
Of these reports, 86% were from males of all ages, and 42% were from young men aged 18 to 24 years.
Most of the sextortion reports eSafety receives are for financial forms of sextortion . This is where scammers trick people (typically, but not exclusively, young men) into sharing their intimate images, or lead them to believe they have evidence of the victim visiting pornographic sites. The sextortionists then threaten to share the intimate images if they don’t comply with their demands.
According to the eSafety Commissioner, the top apps being used by sextortionists to first make contact are Tinder, Instagram, Grindr, TikTok and Telegram. The top platforms where the threats are made are WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, iMessage and Snapchat.
Our research found LGBTQIA+ people, men and younger respondents were more likely to report both falling victim to sextortionists and perpetrating it themselves.
The most common type of perpetrator reported by respondents in our study was a former or current intimate partner. This tells us sextortion is not just a “stranger danger” threat by cyber criminals. It can also occur in abusive relationships.
For instance, current or former partners threaten to share intimate images to coerce the victim into acting according to their wishes. This can include
staying in a relationship
revoking or varying an intervention order
refusing custody of children
engaging in an unwanted sexual act.
Sometimes perpetrators threaten to share intimate images that don’t even exist.
Abuse through AI
The growing availability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools is making sextortion easier to carry out.
Nudify tools use AI to digitally remove clothing from an uploaded image while retaining the person’s identifiable features. Deepfake generators use AI to manipulate existing media by swapping faces, cloning voices or altering bodily features and movements.
Generative AI systems enable users to produce synthetic media, including entirely new images or altered versions of existing images that may resemble real people.
There are also smart AI glasses , which make it very easy for someone to covertly record intimate images in public or private spaces.
“ Catfishing ” is a common tactic used by sextortionists. This is the practice of creating a fake online identity to deceive another person.
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This might involve an offender posing as an attractive person to persuade the victim to share their intimate images or engage in sexual activity online. The offender then uses this material to blackmail the victim.
AI makes it easy for offenders to write convincing messages, use different languages, build trust and tailor messages to particular victims. AI can also manage a large number of conversations simultaneously, enabling offenders to target more victims with less effort.
The technology has changed, but the underlying harm remains the same. Whether the image is “real” or AI-generated, victims can experience fear, humiliation, reputational damage and emotional distress . In some tragic cases , victims have gone on to take their own lives because of sextortion threats.
What should be done?
Sextortion is a global problem that is often low-cost and high-reward for offenders. Addressing it requires action from technology companies, governments, educators and support services.
Digital platforms have a digital duty of care and must adopt stronger and proactive detection, prevention and response approaches.
This means building “ safety-by-design ” protections into products from the outset rather than responding after harms emerge. Platforms can use automated systems to detect suspicious behaviour associated with sextortion, make it easier for users to report abuse and take swift action against offending accounts.
Education…
Read the full article at The Conversation (AU) →
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