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Artificial intelligence-generated “deepfakes” fuel sextortion scams like dried-up brush in a wildfire that has gotten out of hand.
The number of sextortion cases reported nationwide rose 322% between February 2022 and February 2023, according to the FBI, which last week said there had been a significant increase since April because of AI-manipulated imagery.
Innocent photos or videos uploaded to social media or sent in messages can be twisted into sexually explicit, AI-generated images that are “lifelike” and nearly impossible to discern, the FBI said.
Predators, usually located in another country, weaponize the counterfeit AI images against youths in order to extort money from them or their families, or as an attempt to obtain real sexually explicit images, the FBI said.
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A rendering of the “Calculated” character Jo, created using artificial intelligence. (OneDoor Studios)
What is sextortion?
The FBI defines sextortion as a crime in which “victims are forced to provide sexually explicit photos or videos of themselves and then threatened to share them publicly or with the victim’s family and friends.”
Malicious actors use content manipulation technologies and services to exploit photos and videos — usually taken from someone’s social media account, open internet, or requested from the victim — into sexually themed images that appear lifelike on a victim. Then distribute them on social media, public forums or pornographic websites’ That’s what the FBI said in a June 5 PSA.
“Many victims, including minors, are unaware that their images have been copied, manipulated and distributed until someone else pointed it out to them.”
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According to the latest FBI figures from earlier this year, at least a dozen sextortion-related suicides have been reported nationwide.
Many of the victims are men between the ages of 10 and 17, although there are victims as young as 7, the FBI said. Girls have also been targeted, but the statistics show that a greater number of boys have been victimized.
Gavin Guffey, 17, committed suicide in 2022 after falling victim to an Instagram sextortion plot. (Brandon Guffey)
One night last July, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey received a message from someone posing as a girl on Instagram, and the pair began chatting on the social media app of Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
That person convinced Gavin to enable “disappear mode” in their Instagram chat, which causes messages to disappear after they are received. They then shared photos, his father, South Carolina Republican state representative Brandon Guffey, told Fox News Digital in an earlier interview.
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That led to demands for money and escalated until Gavin tragically took his own life.
Sextortion is not new, but the number of cases has skyrocketed since the pandemic. From 2021 to 2022, the FBI recorded a 463% increase in reported sextortion cases, and now open-source AI tools have simplified the process for predators, the FBI said.
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And, as the agency points out, the reported numbers don’t tell the whole story, because many victims are embarrassed and don’t press charges, so the number of cases could actually be much higher.
AI sextortion ‘more prevalent and ubiquitous’
Alicia Kozak, who escaped from a sexual predator’s dungeon where she was kept chained, is now an internet safety expert who regularly speaks at schools to educate students about the dangers of online predators.
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She told Fox News Digital that sextortion is one of the biggest and most devastating threats to today’s teens in a world where kids chase the status and fame of social media influencers so they blindly accept followers without vetting them.
“I speak in schools, and every school I have spoken to has had multiple victims of sextortion and in almost all communities a child has died by suicide as a result of sextortion and the threats, shame and fear that come with it,” said Cossack.
Alicia Kozak, who escaped the dungeon of a sexual predator, is now an internet safety expert who regularly speaks at schools to educate students about the dangers of online predators. (Alicia Cossack)
When she was 13, the internet was still in its infancy, just like AI is now, and she sees parallels in rapidly advancing – and potentially world-changing – technology.
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“When this happened to me, many of the dangers of the Internet were unknown, and now we’re in the same area again,” Kozak said. “AI has gone mainstream and everyone can access and use it.
Alicia Kozak is pictured after being rescued by the FBI after four days with her captor. (Courtesy of Alicia “Kozak” Kozakiewicz)
“While many are caught up in the glitz and excitement, or perhaps even fear that we could lose control of the technology itself, it is important to remember that the criminals use it to victimize others and this certainly happens with sextortion .”
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“Deepfakes” go way beyond Photoshopped images, she said. “It’s more realistic, and it’s becoming more prevalent and ubiquitous.”
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Aces in the shadows
Sextortion is a crime that predators have committed in the shadows for years. In what authorities called one of the largest cases of sextortion ever prosecuted in the US, 31-year-old Lucas Michael Chansler was sentenced in 2014 to 105 years in prison.
The Florida man had targeted more than 350 victims from 26 states, three Canadian provinces and the UK between 2007 and 2010.
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The FBI warned of an increase in sextortion scams fueled by AI. (iStock)
He posed as a 15-year-old boy on MySpace, AIM and Stickam to befriend girls between the ages of 13 and 18, and used 135 different online IDs to hide his identity and locations, the FBI said.
He pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and was sentenced to prison, but there are still more than 200 child victims who have not been identified in his case.
Find help navigating ‘scary situation’
Michelle DeLaune, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said in an earlier statement that young victims of this crime “feel like there’s no way out.”
“But we want them to know they’re not alone. In the past year, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has received more than 10,000 sextortion-related reports,” DeLaune said earlier this year. “Please talk to your kids about what to do if they (or their friends) are targeted online. NCMEC has free resources to help them navigate an overwhelming and scary situation.”
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NCMEC also offers a free service called “Take It Down”, which helps victims remove or stop sharing sexually explicit images or videos online.
The site is: https://takeitdown.ncmec.org.
The FBI lists recommendations for sharing content online, as well as resources for victims of extortion https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2023/PSA230605.
The FBI also urges victims to report exploitation by calling the local FBI field office, calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or reporting it online at tips.fbi.gov.
Chris Eberhart is a crime and American news reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to [email protected] or on twitter @ChrisEberhart48
