Illinois FBI Warns Parents On Uptick In Sextortion Cases

It's time to keep a close eye on your kid's electronics.

The FBI and federal authorities are warning parents about a major rise in 'child sextortion' cases, including in Illinois.

It's not limited to just teenagers, they say. The cases often start with a creep posing as a kid's peer on social media or gaming platforms. Once they establish trust with the kid, they start asking for things like money and illicit images.

Ashley Kizler, a special agent with the FBI's Chicago Field Office, investigates child sextortion cases in the state. She told NBC Chicago:

The vulnerability lies with any youth who has access to the internet that has a messaging platform. They engage in conversations, sometimes a relationship with this young person through the internet, through social media, through a gaming application...Once that youth has produced that image for that bad actor, then the increased demand for more images typically comes out. They ask for these images under the threat that they will expose that youth to parents, to peers, to their school, to friends.

Sometimes, the demands shift from pictures to money. The FBI's Internet Crime Report shows that nationally last year, there were over 3,800 complaints of extortion and sextortion of people under 20 years old. The monetary loss totaled over $1 million.

Agent Kizler recommended parents treat internet access like handing their kids car keys.

She suggests parents have open conversations with kids about internet safety and creating an action plan if they get a creepy message or they figure out someone they're talking to isn't legit.

If your kid becomes a victim of sextortion, don't delete the messages, screenshots, or their username. Remember all of that and immediately report it to law enforcement.

You can get ideas of what exactly to talk to your kids about on the FBI's website.