“What Parents Need to Know About the Fast-Growing Crime Luring Kids Through Games, Snapchat, and Social Media”
Tuesday: 11:00pm
Michael gets the message, Upload Complete. His AP History homework is officially submitted via the online portal to his teacher. He breathes a sigh of relief. He’s fully up to date on all of his course work. Sophomore year is off to a great start.
As Michael closes his laptop, the notification comes in on his phone.
IM from: GamerGirl4250. “You up?”
Gamer Girl is a girl he met online playing Helldivers 2. They were matched on a team and played well together. They made a good team and connected as friends in the game. A few more gaming sessions together and Michael felt a real connection. They traded in-game messages constantly. As their online friendship developed, they both trusted each other to trade Snap contact information. Now they can talk privately, even send each other pictures and short videos. Michael is very happy when she reveals her real world name is Beth and she lives just over an hour from Michael’s house.
Sending pictures back and forth keeps them connected. All day they send each other little snippets of their day, a video walking to school, lunch with the boys, a funny face showing boredom in chemistry class. Michael loves to brag when Beth sends him a video of her blowing him a kiss.
“Hey stud, this is getting serious.” The boys high five him
“She might be girlfriend material.” Michael thinks to himself. “Maybe we meet and I ask her to the winter ball.” They’ve always had trouble scheduling a time to actually meet. They both say they can get rides halfway and meet in the middle. But the last few times there was a last minute emergency. Beth’s grandmother is very ill. They thought she might die and Beth can’t be far from home.
IM from SniperMike (his gamer tag): “I’m up.”
IM From GamerGirl4250: “I bet you are ;)” She winks at him.
IM From SniperMike: “LOL. You’re bad.”
IM From GamerGirl4250: “It’s not bad if we’re friends. And it stays between us. We have each other’s back.”
IM From SniperMike: “True.”
IM From GamerGirl4250: “Want me to go first?”
IM From SniperMIke: “?”
IM From GamerGirl4250: VIDEO. Mike opens the video and is surprised at what he sees. Beth is sitting at her makeup table, getting ready for the night. But her pajama top is open. Beth reaches down and gives Mike a flash, opening her pajama top revealing her bra.
IM From SniperMike: HEART emoji “Nice”
IM From GamerGirl4250: “Now you”
IM From GamerGirl4250: VIDEO. It’s another video of Beth blowing Michael a kiss.
IM From Gamer Girl4250: “Now you send me something. Please?”
Michael takes a minute. He walks to his door and listens, making sure his parents are asleep. He walks back to his desk and removes his shirt. He snaps a photo with is phone and sends it to her.
IM From Gamer Girl4250: “Sexy. You’ve been hitting the gym.”
IM From SniperMike: “Thx”
IM From GamerGirl4250: “I love the underwear band sticking out from your jeans. That’s hot.”
IM From Sniper Mike: “Ha! There’s more from where that came from” He jokes. Michael loves this attention. He’s never received this kind of attention from any girl before. This is new territory for him. But since it’s online he feels that it’s safer. Less chance of rejection.
IM From GamerGirl4250: “I will if you will”
IM From SniperMike: “?”
IM From GamerGirl4250: Photo attachment. Michael opens the file. It’s a photo of Beth laying on her bed in her bra and panties.
IM From GamerGirl4250: “Now You. Please?
This is as far as Michael has ever gone. He thinks about it.
“It’s ok,” he thinks to himself. “I know her. We’ve known each other for weeks. I trust her. We’re going to the next level in our relationship. She’s practically my girlfriend.” Michael unzips his jeans and takes them off. He stands in his bedroom in his white Fruit of the Looms and snaps another pic. SEND
IM From GamerGirl4250: “You are so hot!”
IM From GamerGirl4250: Picture file attached.
Michael opens the photo. Beth is now fully naked on the bed.
IM From GamerGirl4250: “You like? Are you hard?”
IM From SniperMike: “I am now!”
IM From GamerGirl4250: “Show me.”
Michael is fully caught up in the moment. There’s no going back. He drop his shorts and snaps another pic. Showing Beth everything and how excited he is.
IM From GamerGirl4250: “Very nice! I need to go to bed now. Big test in the morning. This was fun.”
IM From GamerGirl4250: VIDEO FILE ATACHED. Mike opens the file and sees Beth blowing him a kiss goodnight. “Something to think of when you think of me tonight.”
IM From GamerGirl4250: “Do me a favor. Download TELEGRAM. My parents sometimes monitor my phone. We can talk more privately there. I’ll contact you in the morning there.”
Mike puts his shorts back on and hops into bed. He downloads the Telegram app and sends a connection request to Beth. Lights out. Time for bed.
#
The next morning Michael wakes up early for school. He takes his phone to the bathroom. Starts the shower and sits on the can waiting for the water to warm up. There’s already a message from Beth on the new Telegram app. He opens the app, accepts her friend request and reads her first message.
IM From GamerGirl4250: “Good morning sexy. That was fun last night. I have all of your pics saved. So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to send me $1,500 in the next 2 hours. If you don’t all of these pics are getting uploaded online. The whole world will see you whacking off online.”
IM From GamerGirl4250: VIDEO file. Michael opens the file. It’s Beth, blowing him a kiss. Then the video fades to black with just some text of an online address to send the money.
#
The passage above is a typical example of how your son or daughter can easily get caught in an online trap called SEXTORTION. It’s a bigger problem than we know. There are been over 26,000 cases reported in 2023 alone. The FBI and Homeland Security have reported a TENFOLD INCREASE in SEXTORTION cases since 2021.
What’s the crazy part of this story? Beth doesn’t exist. She doesn’t live an hour away from Michael. SEXTORTION is a business of organized gangs overseas running scams like an organized syndicate.
Teen boys are the primary target. SEXTORTION rings find and target young men in online games and chat rooms. They pose as profiles like GamerGirl4250 to lure the boys in. Why? Because boys are easier to bait with sexual lures. The fake “teen girl” profiles are the lure. Stock photos, AI-generated faces, doesn’t matter. If a boy believes it, he’s all revved up and ready to go.
But the problem gets worse. There have been at least 12 suicides in the last two years by boys who were trapped by SEXTORTION gangs. The embarrassment and shame was overwhelming. The non-profit organization THORN surveyed 1,200 boys. They found that 1 in 5 boys experienced some form of SEXTORTION. These are young people between the age of 13 -20.
In another survey, 1 in 7 victims admitted they hurt themselves after being targeted.
1 in 7. Let that sink in.
Where Does This Happen
Sextortion can start anywhere young people communicate online. It often begins on one platform and then quickly moves to another to facilitate the crime.
Social Media & Messaging: Instagram and Snapchat are frequently cited as the most common platforms for initial contact.
Gaming Platforms: Predators also use popular online gaming platforms and apps to meet and groom young victims.
Encrypted Apps: The conversation is often quickly moved to end-to-end encrypted messaging apps to make tracking the criminal activity more difficult for law enforcement. KEEP THESE OFF YOUR KID’S PHONE!
Warning Signs & Prevention: Your Action Plan
As a Dad Bod, your biggest role is to be a safe, non-judgmental harbor for your child. The key to prevention is open communication and education.
- Your child suddenly becomes withdrawn, secretive, or anxious about their phone or computer use.
- They are guarding their device and quickly closing apps when you approach.
- They are receiving constant notifications or messages from unknown users.
- They suddenly have a need for money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency without a clear explanation.
What You Can Do
- Be a Safe Space, Not a Judge: Let your child know that if anything online makes them uncomfortable or scared, no matter what it is, your first and only priority is to help them. Promise them no blame. This is the single most important step, as fear of parental anger is often what keeps victims silent.
- Talk About “Catfishing”: Explain that predators often pretend to be attractive peers. Remind your child that people online are not always who they claim to be, and images can be stolen or faked.
- The “Nothing Disappears” Rule: Emphasize that nothing is truly private or temporary online, even on apps that claim to delete messages. Any image or video can be screenshot and used against them forever.
- Review Privacy Settings: Help your child keep all their social media and gaming accounts set to Private to limit what strangers can see, including their friend lists.
- Stop, Block, Tell: Teach them a simple mantra if they receive a suspicious message or a threat: Stop communicating, Block the sender, and Tell a trusted adult (you, a teacher, a school counselor).
If you or your child is a victim of sextortion, the FBI and other resources urge you to:
Report it immediately to the platform (Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) and to law enforcement, like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-THE-LOST or online at CyberTipline.org.
Do NOT pay or send more images. This rarely stops the blackmailer.
Do NOT delete any messages, chats, or images. Save all evidence.
Look, we baby-proofed our houses when they were toddlers. We locked up cabinets, covered outlets, put bumpers on tables. Sextortion is the 2025 version of that same job, only the stakes aren’t a scraped knee. It’s life or death.
If you’re not talking to your kid about this, somebody else already is. And that somebody isn’t trying to keep them safe.
DAD BOD WEEKLY 