Support and Sextortion

What do people in caring positions need to know?

By Michael Chamberlain-Cove, Learning & Development Officer, Lead Scotland

The digital revolution was already excluding some disabled people, but this was made worse by the pandemic and lockdowns. Everyone had to move their lives online, including many people you support. Some of the people you support may need additional support to manage their online risk exposure.

If you work in a role which provides care support to people, you will probably have noticed that your role has changed over the last few years. Alongside everything else in your role, you may have found that you now need to have an understanding of staying safe online, and how to support the people you work with on this. You might be the main – or only – person that those you support could ask for help.

Cybercrime evolves at a dizzying pace, and it can be difficult to keep up. This blog focuses on the subject of sextortion.

Sextortion is a worrying, growing type of fraud, where victims are tricked into sending intimate content, and then blackmailed into paying money (or sending further content) to prevent that content being made publicly available.

According to the Internet Watch Foundation, the largest proportion of victims were young men, aged between 14-18, but all ages and genders are targeted. In some cases, criminals generate realistic images and videos through AI, and then use the threat of releasing these to blackmail victims.

Anyone can become the victim of sextortion, but there can be extra risk for some of the people you support.

So, what can you do to help those you support stay safe from sextortion?

Initiate conversations with the people you support about safe relationships. Disabled people’s sex lives are often ignored, but it is essential to make sure the people you support know they can discuss relationships with you. Encourage the people you support to share their experiences, and any concerns. This can provide an excellent starting place for discussing boundaries, privacy, and what is appropriate within a relationship, helping to protect those you support from potentially exploitative situations.
Initiate conversations with the people you support about safe tech use. There are lots of risks involved with being online, lots of risks to be managed. Talk to the people you support about these risks – including sextortion – so that they have an understanding of the risks involved with being on the internet, and how they can reduce those risks. Use the Fearless Easy Read document to talk to the people you support, either one to one or better still in a small group.
Increase your own awareness about the range of risks inherent to being online. Use free courses, such as those on my.lead, to boost your knowledge and confidence at being able to recognise and avoid cyber harm. Lead Scotland has a free short course about sextortion.
Spread the word to colleagues. Make sure your colleagues know how to help the people they support too.
Be aware of organisations you can signpost to:

Adults can contact:

Revenge porn helpline for free, confidential help and support for adult victims of intimate image abuse

Stop NCII, a tool designed to protect the victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse

Samaritans for free, confidential, non-judgmental listening.

Under 18s can contact:

CEOP Safety Centre, for concern about online sexual abuse and online communication

Childline for confidential and free online and phone-based support

SAMH for practical advice on mental health

NSPCC for support on a wide range of child safety issues, from mental health to staying safe online.

What should you do if someone tells you they’ve been asked for money to stop photos being released? You can follow all the information provided in the Fearless’ campaign page for professionals:

Fearless Sextortion Campaign Page

Cyber-enabled crime like sextortion accounts for around 40% of crimes in the UK. By developing your knowledge and confidence, you can take an active step in empowering the people you support to stay safe from sextortion.

This blog is part of our Fearless Scotland sextortion campaign. You can learn more about the campaign: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/fearless/professionals/fearless-scotland/sextortion-campaign