Police announced yesterday they were investigating a recent report of an individual targeting local high school pupils by posing as someone else online and attempting to extort them.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said they believed Dunedin pupils were being targeted, which stemmed from an active investigation regarding a complainant that had come forward.
A concern was that the people who did this type of behaviour could also target wider friend groups via social media.
"As with all young people they generally have a wide-ranging and high number of friends and we’re concerned about . . . the perpetrator moving on to that wider friend group as well.
"You’ve got a cross over between the school friend and sports friend, you’ve got probably a lot of the wider Dunedin younger age group that are very active on social media that could be targeted."
Police were trying to identify the individual and were urging parents and guardians to talk with their children to prevent further complaints.
Detective Sergeant Reece Munro said in a statement yesterday that instances of sextortion generally began with a direct message on social media to the victim.
They were asked to continue chatting on a different app and the conversation would gradually become sexualised, although might not be obvious to high school-aged children.
"From here, the victim is coerced into sharing photos and/or videos of themselves, their school friends or their family.
"In time, these photos can be used as blackmail in threatening to post online, or share them with people close to the victim.
"In some instances, photos are reportedly doctored by the offender to make the victim appear to be in even more compromising positions."
Offenders could also capture compromising images of the young person from video files, which could then be traded across the internet, Det Sgt Munro said.
A quick and easy way to avoid being a victim of child exploitation and sextortion was to ensure you verify the people you are communicating with online.
If you are a victim of sextortion:
• Avoid sending any more images or videos – even if they are threatening you.
• Remember – once you have complied with their demands there is nothing preventing them targeting you again.
• Save all the online chat, immediately take screenshots/screen recordings. This is important for making a report to the police, who need evidence.
• Block the profile.
• Report the content to the platform i.e. the social media or website they contacted you on, or the content has been sent or posted on and request the content is removed.
To report this type of offending, please contact police on 105, or an online report through Netsafe at netsafe.org.nz/report. Netsafe also provides resources for both young people and adults regarding sextortion at netsafe.org.nz/sextortion/
