Authorities in Calumet County are warning residents of a dangerous scheme that often targets children and teenagers.
The Calumet County Sheriff’s Office has said that many children in their community have fallen victim to sextortion, a scheme that often uses provocative photos to blackmail a person.
Young individuals may meet someone online who they believe is around their age.
A predator will then gain their trust through conversation before asking the child to share a provocative photo of themselves.
Once the image is received, the other person will then threaten the child to share it with the victim’s friends or family unless they receive payment.
In the event of someone falling victim to sextortion, authorities tell individuals to remember they are not alone, stop responding, take screenshots of the conversations, and tell someone about the incident.
Victims are often too embarrassed to tell their parents or someone they know and instead pay the suspect.
While suspects often target younger individuals, people of any age can fall victim to sextortion blackmail schemes.
If you have been the victim of such a scheme, you are urged to alert local authorities to the incident.
