We surveyed more than 16,000 respondents across 10 countries; one in seven adults have experienced sextortion, while 4.8% admitted to being a perpetrator.
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 10 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.
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.
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 that 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.
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.
‘Catfishing’ is a common tactic used by sextortionists. This is the practice of creating a fake online identity to deceive another person.
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.
Educational interventions need to raise awareness about the warning signs of sextortion. These include fake profiles, rapid relationship-building, requests for intimate images and threats. Education also needs to be grounded in consent and respectful and healthy relationships to address the broader drivers of gender-based violence.
Shame, embarrassment and fear of punishment or victim-blaming often prevent people from seeking help. Counselling, legal assistance, crisis support and responses from police and frontline services are all crucial.
Victim-survivors need culturally appropriate and accessible support. Shame, embarrassment and fear of punishment or victim-blaming often prevent people from seeking help. Counselling, legal assistance, crisis support and responses from police and frontline services are all crucial.
In Australia, there are a range of state, territory and federal laws that prohibit blackmail and extortion, and address image-based abuse. There are also family violence and personal safety intervention orders, which may include conditions prohibiting the perpetrator from publishing the intimate images of a protected person or making threats against them.
The federal Online Safety Act prohibits both the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and threats to share intimate images. This includes deepfakes and digitally altered images. Under this scheme, the eSafety Commissioner has the power to issue formal warnings, ‘enforceable undertakings’ (a pledge not to do something), infringement notices, injunctions or civil penalties.
We need a holistic approach to address this complex issue, including laws, regulations, digital tools, prevention education, multifaceted support and accountability measures.
This article first appeared on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons Licence; you can read the original here.
About the Authors
Nicola Henry is a Professor in Global and Language Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. She has nearly 30 years’ experience in research on sexual violence in both international and domestic criminal justice realms, with a focus on post-conflict justice (war crimes trials, civil society tribunals), rape law reform, sexual assault on university campuses, and technology-facilitated sexual violence (including image-based sexual abuse). Nicole recently completed an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship on the efficacy of digital tools and platforms for responding to image-based sexual abuse.
Alana Ray is a PhD candidate at RMIT University, researching the phenomenon of sextortion, a form of image-based abuse. She is also a Lawyer (Prosecutor) at Victoria Police. She has practised as a family law and family violence lawyer in both the private and community legal sectors. She is a dedicated advocate for victim-survivors of family violence. Alana also has extensive experience teaching law, specifically, evidence law and criminal law, at the tertiary level.
Gemma Stevens is a criminologist and PhD graduate, and works as a Research Assistant at the Social Equity Research Centre at RMIT University. Gemma explores issues relating to image-based sexual abuse, sexual violence, AI and technology-facilitated violence.
Picture © Krakenimages.com / Shutterstock
