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The AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation has also reported a significant drop in reports of sextortion in the first six months of 2024.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has released new figures showing its progress in fighting child sextortion scams as part of National Child Protection Week, and while the news is largely positive, the AFP said it remains concerned at the number of blackmail victims.
The AFP’s Operation Huntsman has now shut down over 1,800 Australian bank and cryptocurrency accounts, as well as other financial services, linked to international organised crime syndicates operating sextortion scams against Australian victims.
The AFP and the Australian government’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, began Operation Huntsman in June 2022 to specifically target the onshore accounts of sextortion operators.
The AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) also reported a sharp decrease in the reported incidents of sextortion over the first six months of the year. In that time, the ACCCE has fielded 560 reports of child sextortion, which is an average of 93 reports each month – a drop from the 2023 average of 300 reports a month.
AFP Commander Human Exploitation Helen Schneider believes several factors are responsible for the decrease.
“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,” Commander 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.”
Anthony Helmond, AUSTRAC’s acting national manager for law enforcement and industry, said that cooperation with other financial institutions was vital to fighting the crime.
“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.”
Despite the good news, Commander Schneider is still concerned with the number of reports.
“Although the reports have dropped, this is still an under-reported crime, and the sad reality is that we’re still receiving almost 100 reports of children in Australia being targeted by criminals every month,” Commander 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.”
If you’re concerned about your or someone else’s safety, dial 000 or contact your local police station immediately.
The AFP-led ThinkUKnow program has developed a resource to help the community identify sextortion and how to get help. The online blackmail and sexual extortion response kit aimed at young people aged 13 -17 is available from the ThinkUKnow and ACCCE websites.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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