April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
As clinical workers and behavioral health experts in Eastern Virginia, we are using this time to shine a light on a rapidly growing, highly distressing form of digital abuse affecting our community: financial sextortion and deepfake intimate images.
If your family is currently navigating this nightmare, we want you to know two things immediately: You are not alone, and this is not your child’s fault.
The FBI has flagged a massive increase in cases where children and teenagers—predominantly boys—are targeted by organized networks and scam compounds. In 2022, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) logged 10,731 reports of financial sextortion. By 2023, that number surged to 26,718. With the rise of AI tools, scammers are now easily creating synthetic or “deepfake” imagery to terrorize victims.
This experience is deeply traumatic, but there is a clear, practical path forward. Here is a step-by-step recovery guide for families to secure their digital safety and protect their mental health.
What is Financial Sextortion and Deepfake Imagery?
At its core, sextortion is a crime of coercion. A scammer connects with a teen on a social media platform or gaming app, builds false trust, and convinces them to share an intimate photo or video. Once the image is sent, the trap snaps shut: the scammer threatens to send the image to the teen’s family, friends, or school unless they are paid.
In recent years, the threat has evolved. With deepfake imagery, a scammer doesn’t even need a real intimate photo. They can take a normal, fully clothed picture of your child from their public social media profile and use artificial intelligence to digitally strip or manipulate the image, creating a fake—but highly realistic—explicit photo to use for blackmail.
Immediate Steps for Victims and Caregivers
When a child discloses that they are being extorted, the entire family enters a state of crisis. The “fight or flight” response takes over. Here is exactly what you need to do:
1. Stop Responding and Do Not Pay
The most critical step is to cease all communication with the blackmailer. Do not give in to their demands. Paying them does not make them go away; it only marks your child as a compliant target, and the demands will escalate.
2. Preserve the Evidence
Do not delete the app, the messages, or the accounts just yet. Take screenshots of everything: the demands, the profile of the scammer, the URLs, and the payment instructions.
3. Report the Crime
- National Level: Report the incident immediately to the NCMEC CyberTipline.
- Local Level: Contact your local police department. If your child is in immediate physical danger, call 911. You should also ask your school’s administration to coordinate support, as scammers often threaten to send images to classmates.
4. Administer Mental Health First-Aid
As therapists, we see the profound psychological toll this takes. Victims often experience severe panic, crushing shame, and acute sleep disruption.
- Validate Their Fear: Tell your child, “I know you are terrified, but we are a team, and we will get through this together. You are the victim of a sophisticated crime.”
- Monitor Sleep and Mood: Sleep disruption is a primary indicator of severe anxiety. If your child cannot sleep or is experiencing panic attacks, it is time to seek professional clinical support.
Rapid Content-Removal and Tech-Safety Planning
You can take proactive steps to stop the spread of these images and secure your child’s digital footprint.
- Use StopNCII.org: If your child is over 18 (or if you are an adult victim), you can use StopNCII.org. This incredible tool generates a digital “hash” (a unique fingerprint) of the intimate image directly on your device. The image itself is never uploaded. Participating tech platforms (like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram) use this hash to detect and automatically block the image from being shared on their networks. For minors, NCMEC offers a similar tool called Take It Down.
- Tech-Safety Hygiene: Lock down all social media accounts to the highest privacy settings. Turn off the ability for strangers to send direct messages, limit who can see their friends list, and conduct a thorough device check for any unrecognized apps.
Financial Harm and Virginia Legal Protections
These networks are financially motivated. Scammers typically demand quick, untraceable payments like gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) even issued a 2025 notice highlighting the distinct patterns of these financially motivated sextortion rings. If you have lost money, document the exact amounts, dates, and transaction methods to provide to law enforcement.
Know Your Rights in Virginia: The law is on your side. Virginia has strict legal protections regarding the unlawful creation and dissemination of non-consensual intimate images. You can reference Virginia Code §§ 18.2-386.2 (unlawful dissemination or sale of images of another) and § 18.2-386.1 to understand your rights and hold perpetrators accountable.
Find Hope and Healing in Eastern Virginia
Recovering from sextortion is not just about securing your devices; it is about repairing your mental and emotional well-being.
Region Five is your authority on public behavioral health. Whether you live in Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, the Eastern Shore, or the Middle Peninsula, there is a local Community Services Board (CSB) equipped to offer trauma-informed care and peer support for your family.
- In Immediate Danger? Call 911.
- In a Mental Health Crisis? Dial or text 988, or call the Region Five Crisis Line directly at (757) 656-7755.
- Ready for Counseling? Reach out to your local CSB in Eastern Virginia to schedule an intake assessment and connect with a trained clinical worker.
Do not let shame keep your family in the shadows. There is real, practical help available right here in our community.
