FBI: Steep climb in teens targeted by online ‘sextortion’

WASHINGTON (AP) — An explosive increase in teenage boys targeted online and extorted for money after being tricked into sending explicit pictures of themselves has the FBI sounding a public-safety alarm. Justice Department officials say at least 3,000 teens and children have been victims of the schemes that are connected to more than a dozen suicides this year, a scale that U.S. authorities haven’t seen before. Many think they are chatting online with kids their own age but are quickly manipulated into sending explicit pictures and then blackmailed for money with threats to release the images. The FBI said it was issuing the national public safety alert now since kids may be spending more time online as schools close for winter break.