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Crime Junkie

WARNING: Sextortion

Two harrowing stories – those of Asia Anderson and Walker Montgomery – illustrate how the rising digital threat of sextortion can impact anyone and forever change lives.
Duration
58m
Broadcast on
18 Dec 2023
Audio Format
other

Two harrowing stories – those of Asia Anderson and Walker Montgomery – illustrate how the rising digital threat of sextortion can impact anyone and forever change lives.

Resources:

Staying Safe:

Anyone who uses the internet risks encountering people who wish to cause harm. But you can take certain measures to lower the chances of this happening to you or your children.

  • Don’t share explicit images or videos with strangers online. Don’t send or post any pictures of yourself online that you wouldn’t show your grandmother or boss. Assume that once something is online, you have no control over its distribution.
  • Be extremely cautious about sharing personal, sensitive or intimate information online. Restrict the information you share on social media and adjust privacy settings to limit who can view your posts.
  • Maintain open lines of communication with your children. Make sure they know that they won’t get in trouble if they experience online abuse. This way, they'll feel more at ease reaching out for help if something happens.
  • Educate yourself, your children, and your community (especially young people) about online safety, including the risks of sharing explicit content and engaging in intimate conversations with strangers.
  • Consider limiting your children’s internet use or spot-check their phones and other devices. Start by selecting appropriate apps and websites, and establish guidelines for access. Open discussions and including them in decisions can build trust and responsibility. Utilize parental control features. Keep tabs on the people your children are communicating with; this can be part of an open and ongoing conversation about what is (and isn’t) appropriate online. It also may be worth considering a rule against devices in bedrooms overnight or shutting off Wi-Fi access after a certain time.
  • Treat online interactions with the same skepticism as you would with strangers in real life. Help your children learn to have a healthy skepticism of strangers online and identify red flags that they may not be who they claim. SOSA recommends making this lesson interactive by creating a fake profile together, which will help them truly see how easy it is for someone to fake their identity. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also has resources, videos, and games to help younger children and teens understand online risks.
  • Use strong, unique passwords for all your online accounts. Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible to add an extra layer of security. When not in use, turn off devices - especially those with cameras, microphones, or webcams - to prevent unauthorized access. Don’t click on links in e-mails from people you don’t know.
  • If someone exhibits concerning behavior, threatens you, or asks for explicit content, report them to the platform administrators and, if necessary, law enforcement.

Grooming warning signs

What to know about online abuse and trauma

Ways to prevent grooming

What to do when a predator contacts your child

Get Help:

If you, your child or a loved one becomes a victim of sextortion, try to remain calm. Remember, sextortion is a crime, and the predator is to blame, not your child or you.

  • Do not comply with the sextortionist’s demands, whether they involve sending more explicit content, money, or anything else. Giving in to their demands rarely stops the harassment and can lead to more serious problems.
  • Save all conversations, chats, or messages exchanged with the sextortionist. Do not delete your profiles or the messages exchanged. If financial demands are involved, document any transactions made. Record any telephone numbers, email addresses, usernames and profiles you might have received from the person. This evidence can be crucial for any potential investigations or legal actions.
  • Many resources advise blocking the perpetrator, but SOSA recommends waiting until law enforcement advises you to do so, because blocking the person could result in losing access to their information.
  • Contact law enforcement right away. Reporting the incident is key to stopping the perpetrator and getting help. Contact your local law enforcement or local FBI field office. You can also call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or report it online at tips.fbi.gov.
  • If a minor is involved, contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or report online sex abuse to NCMEC's CyberTipline.
  • Reach out to a trusted adult or friend for emotional support and guidance. If you don’t feel that you have adults in your corner, you can reach out to NCMEC for support at [email protected] or call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
  • If you or your child is struggling emotionally due to the incident, consider seeking professional help from therapists or counselors specializing in trauma or cyberbullying.
  • Get it removed. Most social media platforms, websites, and apps have mechanisms to flag inappropriate content. Some platforms offer customer support that you can reach out to directly. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's "Take It Down" program helps remove images of minors. Visit cybertipline.org to get NCMEC’s help or https://www.missingkids.org/isyourexplicitcontentoutthere  to learn how to notify companies.
  • Report it, because if someone threatens to share explicit images of you, they’re likely also threatening others.

Red Flags:

Remember that these red flags should not be taken in isolation. It's important to consider the overall context and the combination of behaviors you observe. Trust your instincts – if something feels off or uncomfortable, it's better to be cautious and seek advice or report the situation to appropriate authorities.

  • Rapid Escalation: Be cautious if an online relationship becomes very intense or personal too quickly. Sextortion perpetrators often try to establish an emotional connection rapidly to gain trust and manipulate victims.
  • Emotional Manipulation: Watch out for attempts to emotionally manipulate you, such as playing on your feelings of loneliness or insecurity, asking you to keep secrets, and making you follow rules about your interactions.
  • Pressure and Coercion: Any form of pressuring, guilt-tripping, or coercing you into doing something you're uncomfortable with, including sharing explicit content, is a red flag.
  • Explicit Content Requests: If someone you're communicating with online asks for explicit photos, videos, or personal information, it's a major red flag. Legitimate relationships should be built on trust, respect, and consent.
  • Threats and Demands: Any form of threat, whether it's about exposing compromising material or causing harm to you or your loved ones, should be taken seriously.
  • Reluctance to Meet in Person: If the person you're communicating with avoids meeting in person or provides excuses to not reveal their identity, this could indicate ulterior motives.
  • Platform Switching: If someone initiates contact on one platform but pressures you to move conversations to another platform, especially if it offers increased privacy or anonymity, exercise caution. Perpetrators often aim to control the environment.
  • Inconsistent Identity: If the person's stories, photos, or details about their life don't align or seem inconsistent, it could indicate a fake identity. Images and videos can be altered or stolen, and don't assume they're proof of someone's identity.
  • Too Good to Be True: While compliments are normal, excessive flattery might be a tactic to manipulate emotions and lower defenses. Be cautious of individuals who offer gifts, money, job opportunities, or promises that seem too good to be true.
  • Unwillingness to Share Personal Information: If the person avoids sharing their own personal details and only focuses on obtaining your information, it's a potential sign of manipulation.

 

Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/bwbrsa-sextortion/

 

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Hi crime junkies, I'm your host Ashley Flowers and I'm Britt and before we jump into today's episode, I just want to take a moment and say a huge thank you. Thank you all for the love and support that you have shown us literally since day one and all throughout the last year. It is because of you that we actually got named Apple podcast top show for the second year in a row, which is honestly just so validating because it continues to show us that our crime junkies just get it. You guys get what we're doing here and the more people who listen to this show means the more awareness and good that we can bring to these cases. So again, a huge thank you to our crime junkies. We quite literally couldn't do it without you. And so today I actually have two stories for you. Both of which are about one rising threat, which you may not have heard of, but you need to know about. Sextortion and this is one of those episodes that is so important for everyone to hear. No matter your age, your gender, your ethnicity or background, I am not kidding. Go grab your kids. This is one for them because virtually anyone with internet access is vulnerable. And in the digital age, dangers seem to lurk more in your DMs than in dark alleys. These are the stories of Asia Anderson and Walker Montgomery. Asia Anderson is halfway through her shift as a host at an Indianapolis restaurant when she gets a Facebook message notification on her phone. And there's nothing strange about that. It's September of 2014. Facebook is like the reigning champ of social media. And 18 year old Asia has plenty of friends on the site. But this message is anything but ordinary. And it's not from one of her friends. It's from an account with a cryptic username, something like closed door. There's no profile picture, no personal details, nothing, but the words that are written send chills down her spine. Hi, Asia. I have to ask you something kind of important. How many guys have you sent dirty pics to? Because I have some of you. I'm racing. Asia rushes to the bathroom and huddles in a stall just panicking because she had sent a couple of partially clothed photos to someone that she trusted like a year ago. But she doesn't see how this closed door person could have gotten them. Does she check with whoever she sent them to? Oh, immediately. And this dude swears he never shared them and she has no reason to doubt him. So she tries to think of other possibilities. Maybe his account was hacked, maybe hers was, or maybe the anonymous person has her confused with someone else. But when this closed door person describes this sticky note that she keeps on the mirror that she posed in front of, that hope flies out the window. Now she is just scared. She has no idea who this person is. She assumes it's a guy.

Transcription truncated.

Two harrowing stories – those of Asia Anderson and Walker Montgomery – illustrate how the rising digital threat of sextortion can impact anyone and forever change lives.