QUEZON CITY UNIVERSITY 1

Case Study
About Sextortion

A Social Professional Issue Project Documentation

Presented to
The Department of Information Technology
Quezon City University

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology

BSIT – 3O
Members:
Boctoy, Gabriel Jr. B.
Dayola, Richard R.
Gusto, John Rencel S.
Irinco, Princes Joana B.
Mendoza, Bianca Lou C.
Solis, John Patrick N.
Villar, Jhoncel L.

December, 2021

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Synopsis/Executive Summary

When the word “sextortion” is checked in a dictionary, it is generally not defined

as a word, itself, but it is counted as a prosecutorial slang. This crime is basically a sex

offense where a person is being blackmailed by leaking or spreading his/her private

photos throughout the internet and the internet can be a very scary platform at time

despite its powerful impact towards the aspect of communication. It can also be done in a

way where a criminal invades a private safe of a person and demand a sexual activity

while in a presence or in front of a camera. These are a few examples of how these

crimes are executed without any conscience.

Teenagers or young adult users of the internet are the general victims of these

heinous act because of the fact that almost all of them are not computer illiterate enough

the heighten their cybersecurity which makes them the targets of these offenders. As the

internet is such a vast network, they meet someone which in time will turn in an intimate

relationship and end in them “sexting” one another and that’s where the nightmares start.

The combination of lax cybersecurity and sending of pornographic material makes it the

perfect target for criminals.

The main problem about crimes that uses the digital age efficiently is that people

nowadays rely too much on the standard security that they get and don’t use the chance to

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upgrade their cybersecurity. Multiple warnings have been said, distributed, and

broadcasted in a lot of countries. Being responsible should be one of the utmost things

someone should be aware of especially if you’re entering the world of internet where not

everything you can see is true. Common sense should be a must.

Findings

Sextortion employs non-physical forms of coercion to extort sexual favors from

the victim. Sextortion refers to the broad category of sexual exploitation in which abuse

of power is the means of coercion, as well as to the category of sexual exploitation in

which threatened release of sexual images or information is the means of coercion.

Sexual exploitation means taking sexual advantage of another person without

effective consent, and includes, without limitation, causing or attempting to cause the

incapacitation of another person in order to gain a sexual advantage over such other

person; causing the prostitution of another person; recording, photographing or

transmitting identifiable images of private sexual activity and/or the intimate parts.

Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse in which a person(s), of

any age takes advantage of a power imbalance to force or entice a child into engaging in

sexual activity in return for something received by the child and/or those perpetrating or

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facilitating the abuse. As with other forms of child sexual abuse, the presence of

perceived consent does not undermine the abusive nature of the act.

Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either

substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands

are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to family members or

associates rather than to the general public

Wolak, J., & Finkelhor, D. (2016)

Sextortion is defined as threats to expose a sexual image in order to make a

person do something or for other reasons, such as revenge or humiliation. Persons who

completed the online survey are referred to as “respondents” and those who threatened

them as “perpetrators.” The respondents in our sample were primarily female (83%) and

teenagers (ages 18 and 19); about 40% were in their early 20s. The sextortion episodes

they reported were diverse, but incidents broadly fell into two groups:

a) In the wake of face-to-face romantic or sexual relationships during which sexual

images were taken or shared, an aggrieved partner threatened to disseminate images

either to force reconciliation or to embarrass or humiliate the respondent.

b) A perpetrator who met a respondent online used a sexual image obtained from the

respondent or some other source to demand more images or sexual interactions.

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Justin W. Patchin, Sameer Hinduja (September 28, 2018)

Sextortion is the threatened dissemination of explicit, intimate, or embarrassing

images of a sexual nature without consent, usually for the purpose of procuring additional

images, sexual acts, money, or something else. Despite increased public interest in this

behavior, it has yet to be empirically examined among adolescents. The current study fills

this gap by exploring the prevalence of sextortion behaviors among a nationally

representative sample of 5,568 U.S. middle and high school students. Approximately 5%

of students reported that they had been the victim of sextortion, while about 3% admitted

to threatening others who had shared an image with them in confidence. Males and

nonheterosexual youth were more likely to be targeted, and males were more likely to

target others. Moreover, youth who threatened others with sextortion were more likely to

have been victims themselves. Implications for future research, as well as the preventive

role that youth-serving professionals can play, are discussed.

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Discussion

Problem

Teenagers and young adults do not utilize strong passwords or two-step verification.

Solution 1 Solution 2

Always set your 2FA (Two Factor Change your passwords once in awhile, and put

Authentication) to your social media backup email to your accounts.

accounts if applicable.

Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages

It will give Your account is As you change your Your account is

extra login vulnerable to being password, always avoid vulnerable to being

security to hacked. putting personal-related hacked.

your account words/phrases. Use

and you will random combination of

It will hard for you to
receive a letters, numbers and
recover your lost
notification if symbols for better
account.
someone is security from hackers.

trying to

access your
Backup email helps you
account.
recover your account.

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Problem

They share information with others who have even laxer cyber security measures
than they do.

Solution 1 Solution 2

Do not share your personal Do not send sexual photos to anyone, even to
information to someone you don’t your lover. Learn to value yourself.
know personally.

Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages

Protecting Sharing your Safe from criticism, Bad people might

your online personal information discrimination, use it to harm you in
identity is can mean you are at hateful speech, and various ways.
important in a greater risk of sextortion.
that you'll stay identity theft,
safe in stalking and Sextortion might

situations harassment. To maintain your occur if you don’t

where self-respect. limit what you share

cybercriminals online.

try to steal
your identity,
banking
information,
or other
personal
information.

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Sextortion appears to be extremely common. In a relatively short period, a large

number of sextortion cases have been filed in federal courts, state courts, and worldwide.

Each involves an assailant who enters the residences of a huge number of victims,

sometimes in massive numbers, and demands that they provide sexual activity. Sextortion

cases typically involve what are effectively online, distant sexual assaults that occur over

long distances, sometimes even crossing international borders, and occasionally

involving a large number of victims. We usually think of cybersecurity as a problem that

affects governments, large organizations, and individuals with credit card numbers or

identities to steal. The average adolescent or young-adult Internet user, on the other hand,

is the most vulnerable of cybersecurity targets. In general, teenagers and young adults do

not utilize strong passwords or two-step verification. They frequently "sext" each other.

They occasionally take pictures or movies of themselves that are sexual or semi-

pornographic. They also share information with other kids who have even laxer

cybersecurity measures than they do. Sextortion thus appears to be rather simple to carry

out in a target-rich environment, requiring little more than nasty guile in many cases.

The offense can take a variety of forms, and it can be prosecuted under a variety

of legislation. Sometimes it entails breaking into people's computers to obtain photos,

which are then used to extort further money. More often than not, it involves social media

manipulation and deceit. However, the combination of cybersecurity and sexual coercion

is always at the heart of the crime. For the first time in human history, the Internet's

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worldwide interconnectedness means that you no longer need to be in the same nation as

someone to sexually threaten them. The problem of this new digital sex crime, spurred by

widespread Internet connections and webcams, is almost completely unstudied. The FBI

has issued multiple sextortion warnings, and law enforcement officials are well aware of

it.

Conclusion

Despite it being a topic for ages, it has little attention for it to be totally eradicated

in a sense where the whole issue would be resolved in only a matter of time. According to

surveys and studies, 5% of victims are students and 3% admitted in threatening those

victims. Believe it or not, males are the most common and typical targets and what’s

worse is that some of those who have been charged of this offense were once victims,

themselves. Another heartbreaking fact is that these victims do not have the confidence to

tell other people what happened to them.

Offenders have multiple methods to do these crimes. They apparently befriend

victims and manipulate them to the point where they would share their passwords in their

social media accounts. 75% of the victims admitted that they have indeed sent an explicit

image to someone else and the remaining 25% of the victims got their photos procured by

the offenders hacking into their phone or social media.

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This is where cybersecurity should be one of the utmost priority when using the

internet. There is no harm in heightening and upgrading ones security sense it is for their

own good to avoid instances like sextortion to happen. Refraining from taking explicit

photos is advisable especially in this age where everything can be seen when using the

internet.

Recommendation

1. You should avoid forwarding explicit images and videos to anyone.

- Private materials that can be easily acquired by a third party should be an

automatic caution when exchanging it with a person you talk to online. No matter

how trustworthy that person is, there are those that are desperate for attention and

use unimaginable methods.

2. Never share someone's intimate photo or video without their permission.

- If you are in possession of a private material, never let anyone else see

and have it especially if it was only given to you and no one else. Even if that

person is very open to others, consent should be the utmost priority.

3. And in case you encounter a perpetrator, Stop engaging with them immediately.

- Dodgy people should be avoided at all cost. Never try to initiate more

into the conversation. Never interact especially if you are already feeling

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uncomfortable before the conversation even started. Trust your instinct at times

like that.

Implementation

This implementation contains the factors affecting sextortion, the processes, and

the results , including how to introduce potential solutions to prevent sextortion and how

to promote large scale use and sustainability. The intent is to understand what should be

done, by whom and by when of this implementation work in “real world” settings and to

test approaches to improve them.

There is no consistency in the prosecution of sextortion cases. Because no crime

of sextortion exists, the cases proceed under the laws. Sextortion, rather, is a form of

sexual exploitation, coercion, and violence, often but not always of children.We tend

think of cybersecurity as a problem for governments, major corporations, and individual

people with identities to steal. Awareness and reporting of sextortion crimes, while acting

responsibly online, are key in protecting adults and children. We also have to start

advocating peoples especially the minors on how to prevent from being a victim of

sextortion. Congress should pass such a law, incorporating elements already present in

federal sexual abuse, extortion, child pornography, and abusive sexual contact law. It is

important to note that sextortion is not strictly speaking a sexual crime, it is about

exerting power over victims. Teens with a healthy sense of self-worth and a good support
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system are less likely to submit to extortion demands. We hope this study becomes a

powerful tool to raise public awareness about sextortion, and to support legislators,

advocates and citizens in the fight to end this social problem.

References

 Jurecic, Q. C. S. (2016, July 29). Sextortion: The problem and solutions. Brookings.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2016/05/11/sextortion-the-problem-and-

solutions/

 Thomson Reuters Foundation. (2016, July 19). A Call to Action: Ending ‘Sextortion’

in the Digital Age. https://www.trust.org/publications/i/?id=f3b8d35c-27bf-4ba7-

9251-abc07d588347

 Tips for protecting against sextortion. (2015, June 17). WeLiveSecurity.

https://www.welivesecurity.com/2014/03/17/tips-for-protecting-against-sextortion/

 Wolak, J. (2016, October 31). Sextortion: Findings from a survey of 1,631 victims.

National Children’s Advocacy

Center.https://calio.dspacedirect.org/handle/11212/3037

 The Scottish Government. (2018, August 8). Child sexual exploitation: definition and

practitioner briefing paper. Gov.Scot. https://www.gov.scot/publications/child-

sexual-exploitation-definition-practitioner-briefing-paper/

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 Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2018, September 28). Sextortion Among Adolescents:

Results From a National Survey of U.S. Youth. ResearchGate.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327966075_Sextortion_Among_Adolescen

ts_Results_From_a_National_Survey_of_US_Youth

 Patchin, J. W. (2019, November 25). Sextortion: More Insight Into the Experiences

of Youth. Cyberbullying Research Center. https://cyberbullying.org/sextortion-more-

insight-into-the-experiences-of-youth

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DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY