More Than 1,800 Bank Accounts Linked to Sextortion of Australian Teens Shut Down

More than 1800 Australian bank, financial services and digital currency accounts linked to the sexual extortion (‘sextortion’) of Australian teenagers have been shut down.

Sextortion is a form of online blackmail where offenders trick or coerce someone into sending sexual images of themselves, before threatening to share the images unless their demands are met. These demands could be for money, gift cards or more graphic content.

AFP investigators said “too many victims are being blackmailed,” but noted there had been a significant drop in reports of sextortion in the first half of 2024, compared to last year.

“In the first six months of 2024, the ACCCE received 560 reports of sextortion, an average of 93 reports a month, compared to an average of 300 reports a month in the 2023 calendar year,” AFP said in a release on Tuesday.

Since 2022, the AFP and AUSTRAC, working with the financial sector, have facilitated the closure of bank accounts that are held in Australia but are linked to international organised crime syndicates involved in sextortion.

AFP Commander Human Exploitation Helen Schneider said police believed a combination of factors had contributed to the decrease in reports.

“Increased public awareness, especially of parents and young people themselves, combined with the AFP’s work with partners like AUSTRAC are likely making it harder for criminals to exploit children online,” Schneider said.

“We have worked closely with AUSTRAC and financial institutions to make Australia a hostile environment for organised criminals attempting to profit from the sextortion of our young people.

“Our intelligence indicates how effective we have been, with organised criminals regularly complaining to each other online about how difficult it is to extract money from young people in Australia.”

Commander Schneider welcomed the trend of reduced sextortion reports but said the AFP-led ACCCE remained committed to fighting the crime type.

“Although the reports have dropped, this is still an under reported crime and the sad reality is that we still receiving almost 100 reports of children in Australia being targeted by criminals every month,” Schneider said.

“That is why the AFP will continue to make Australia a hostile environment for those who seek to exploit our children, during National Child Protection Week and every week.”

AUSTRAC Acting National Manager, Law Enforcement & Industry, Anthony Helmond said it was disturbing that Australian children were being exploited in this way.

“Access to the internet and the ease of online financial transactions have put vulnerable groups worldwide within easy reach of criminals,” Helmond said.

“As Australia’s financial intelligence unit, AUSTRAC is uniquely placed to identify suspicious financial transactions and share that crucial data with our law enforcement partners.

“By pooling our intelligence and capabilities, we’re able to identify and fight criminals who are targeting young Australians through sextortion.

“AUSTRAC’s ability to follow money trails and our collaboration with industry has resulted in the closure of numerous accounts that were supporting offshore organised criminals seeking to sexually extort Australians. Government and industry are working closely together to keep the community safe by tackling this insidious crime.”