The Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation Unit is advising parents and children to be aware of and familiarize themselves with online “Sextortion”.
Most commonly, offenders engage teenage males through chat based social media platforms, often pretending to be a young girl of a similar age to those they are targeting. Offenders establish a rapport with their victims before coercing them into sending intimate images of themselves. Once the offender receives the images, they threaten to send the images to the young person’s family and friends. They will then extort the youth for money to stop this from occurring.
In September of 2026, the Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation Unit received more than 20 reports of Sextortion from child victims in the province. Sextortion is an under reported crime and, as such, police believe there are more incidents occurring than being reported. Suspects in these cases are often overseas and can be difficult to identify and prosecute.
Parents are encouraged to have age-appropriate conversations with their child around personal safety online and what to do if they find themselves in a situation that makes them feel uncomfortable.
To learn more about the prevention of child exploitation as well as support for those impacted by child exploitation, visit: cybertip.ca
For Sextortion specific information, visit: cybertip.ca/en/online-harms/sextortion
