Young men targeted by sexual exploitation scams
Online sextortion scams target vulnerable young Australian men aged 18 to 24, with some “worst case scenarios” leading to suicides.
Australians made more than 2000 sexual abuse complaints in the second half of 2025; The most common victims were young men.
The eSafety Commissioner said overseas organized crime groups were largely responsible for financial extortion against this age group and were “really honing their craft”.
“They’ll ask for a sexy chat (and) once you take your clothes off, they’ll record it and immediately start blackmailing you, which is blackmail,” Julie Inman Grant told ABC radio on Tuesday.
As some victims are as young as 15, blackmail constitutes child sexual abuse material and has “devastating” effects.
“They have manifestos that lay out high-pressure tactics to isolate and panic young people… they’re trying to make them pay. But we know that this can turn into really terrible psychological and emotional distress and, in the worst-case scenario, lead to suicides.”
The eSafety Commission’s image-based exploit blueprint cataloged screenshots highlighting the persistent and intimidating tactics scammers use.
“I don’t care even if you block me bro, I’m going to spread this,” one said.
“I have everything to ruin your life,” another wrote.
Other examples include the threat of “money only” that could help the victim end the ordeal “peacefully.”
Ms Inman Grant said some young people felt their “lives were over” and it was no surprise it was “an under-reported crime”.
“They don’t report to authorities like E-Security or the police, they actually trust their friends or AI friends,” he said.
She called for victims to block the perpetrator and report it to eSafety, boasting a 98 per cent success rate in taking intimate content down when it involves people under the age of 18.
Ms Inman Grant also pointed out that social media platforms were not implementing “appropriate reporting pathways” and were allowing criminals to “literally colonize” their services.
“They make children very vulnerable and it’s all about protecting profits,” he said.
“It’s time for them to start behaving like truly responsible corporate citizens. They…they certainly had the financial resources and the technology to do that. So we continue to shine a light on all of their weaknesses, and they really need to eliminate that.”
Ms Inman Grant said 8,000 reports in the last financial year complained of image-based abuse or non-consensual sharing of intimate photos and videos.
Many major platforms are required to provide semiannual checks on their efforts to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Instagram, WhatsApp, Gmail, Google Messages, Discord, and Apple iMessage reportedly rely on users reporting damage rather than using language analysis to identify extortion attempts.
