'I can ruin ur life': online sex scam targets young men

Sexual extortion scams targeting young men often begin with brief, flirty exchanges. Photo: Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS The night before a big exam, 16-year-old Sam struck up a conversation with Jessica, a girl he had come to know for her flirty content on Instagram. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading Save 30% All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia All other in your area She replied almost instantly and eventually suggested they move their conversation to WhatsApp to exchange nude pictures. Not wanting to disappoint her and taking her promise that they would stay "just between us" at face value, Sam reluctantly complied. The threats began almost immediately. Tech companies are being asked to ramp up efforts to address sextortion attempts. (George Chan/AAP PHOTOS) "Hey bro. Pay me," the account owner said, threatening to share the explicit image with Sam's friends unless he immediately pay $200. "U know I can ruin ur life," they wrote. Sam's experience is documented in a report from Australia's online safety regulator, exposing a growing form of online blackmail targeting young men. The eSafety Commissioner's latest transparency report, published on Tuesday, also examines how platforms respond to child sexual exploitation and abuse. It found offenders continued to exploit weaknesses in platform design, particularly in private messaging and live-streaming services where abuse is harder to detect. Headspace's Nicola Palfrey says the consequences of sexploitation can be devastating. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS) Sexual extortion, also known as sextortion, refers to a form of blackmail where a person threatens to share a nude or sexual image or video unless the victim gives in to their demands. More than 2000 sextortion complaints were made to eSafety between July and December 2025, with men aged 18 to 24 emerging as the largest cohort, placing almost 800 reports. Instagram and WhatsApp were the most cited platforms of concern for the complaints, followed by Telegram, Facebook and Apple's iMessage. Reports of young people being targeted by sexual exploitation scammers had been increasing for years, said Nicola Palfrey, head of clinical leadership at Headspace. "Thankfully it's still not all that common, but it is probably much more common than people realise," she told AAP. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says platforms should be doing more to prevent online harms. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS) She said the scams were often conducted by organised criminals, both in Australia and overseas, and tended to begin with brief, flirty exchanges. "But from the moment that the young person shares their own images or video, then things tend to move pretty rapidly into the exploitation," she said. The consequences for young people, even when the scammer does not follow through on their threats, can be devastating. "There are cases directly linked to young people taking their lives because they just feel so overwhelmed by the consequences," she said. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant called on tech companies to adopt a comprehensive approach combining proactive detection tools and accessible reporting systems. "This report shows that platforms could and should be doing a lot more to prevent these harms and there are simple steps they can take today to protect users," she said. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25) Australian Associated Press More from Education As it happens Breaking news alert Be the first to know when news breaks.