Crisis point: Australian teens falling victim to sick sextortion trend, more calls to mental healths services

Tragically, thousands of Australian children have been sexually extorted by people online – and it’s leading to self-harm or suicides.

Just last week, a 15-year-old girl put together a meticulous plan on how she would take her life, after she was extorted over an intimate picture she shared with someone she met online.

She had been “sextorted” by a faceless figure online. The scammer had posed as a child, coerced her into sending a nude image and then blackmailed her, demanding cash payments or the pictures would be released.

Tragically, she’s one of thousands of Australian children who are sexually extorted by people online – and it’s leading to children self-harming or taking their own lives.

The Australian Federal Police are receiving more than 120 reports of the frightening trend every month – and social media is often where these crimes are starting.

The AFP’s Human Exploitation Commander Helen Schneider said the scammers – who are often offshore – approach the teens on social media posing as a boy or girl of a similar age, before moving to an encrypted messaging platform, where they then begin to request intimate images.

AFP Commander Helen Schneider says sextortion is an under-reported crime.

“Financial sextortion often involves boys in that 11 to 17 age bracket, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect girls, but largely the victims are boys,” she told the Telegraph.

“In school holiday periods, we might see increases (in reports) when we know more children online for longer periods.”

The Telegraph can reveal that the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation received 82,764 reports of online child sexual exploitation – including the creation and distribution of child abuse material and sextortion – in the 2024-25 financial year, up from 58,500 in 2023-24.

Children’s mental health services have recorded a substantial increase in contacts related to sextortion, with operators receiving panicked calls from children more than once a day after falling victim to the horrifying trend.

Last year alone, Yourtown’s Kids Helpline received 432 calls from young people related to sextortion, an increase from 367 contacts received in 2023.

Yourtown CEO Tracy Adams said in 2017, just two calls were received about sextortion, with the number of contacts exploding over the past three years in particular.

“What has us concerned is not just the volume of calls but the level of distress these young people are experiencing,” she said.

Wayne Holdsworth with his son Mac who took his own life in 2023.

“These children are being targeted, and being sextorted challenges their self worth, they are considering harming themselves, they are worried about what their peers or parents will think, so getting them help is critical.”

Mac Holdsworth, just 17, tragically took his own life in 2023 after a NSW man posing as a teenage girl asked him to send explicit images of himself.

After sending the picture, the scammer asked for $500, and Mac panicked and paid it. Then the man asked for another $500.

Mac told his father Wayne what had happened, and he rushed him to the police station to report the extortion. But within months, Mac took his own life, citing the extortion as a reason in a final note to his family.

The Telegraph is aware of five teenagers in Australia who have taken their lives due to sextortion scams, however Mr Holdsworth says that number is likely higher.

He alone has been approached by several teens who have been extorted – some considering suicide as their only way out.

Perth man Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed was sentenced to 17 years jail, after he coerced 286 victims – including 180 children – into performing sexually explicit acts on camera or video. Picture: Ross Swanborough.

Just last week a 15-year-old approached Mr Holdsworth about the plan she had to end her life.

“She showed me her plan, and she was going to do it that night … I got her help immediately …” he said.

“But it shows sexual extortion is a prevalent issue and it is absolutely under-reported.”

Then, at 12.22am on Saturday last week, Mr Holdsworth received an email from another teen boy who had plans to take his life after he was extorted, and in the days prior he spoke with a distraught mother whose son was headed to the local train line to end his life, after the same thing happened to him.

Mr Holdsworth speaks in schools around the country, educating teens about sexual extortion and the dangers of sharing intimate photos – but he said it was also their parents’ duty to learn about the crime and how it could be impacting their kids.

“I’m pretty worldly and not once had I heard about sexual extortion,” he said.

“It wasn’t until Mac came to me that night, and I did some research before going to the police that I realised this wasn’t legal.

“I say this with my hand on my heart, that if I’d known then what I know now, Mac would be alive without a doubt. Without a doubt. Education is so critical.

Wayne Holdsworth, who lost his son, Mac to suicide. Picture: NewsWire / Dean Martin

“The important thing now is that I am trained, and I can help kids like Mac. That’s the silver-lining.”

While finding the perpetrators responsible for these heinous crimes can be difficult due to the scammers often being offshore, the AFP are cracking down, arresting dozens of people in recent stings.

Twenty-two men were arrested in Nigeria last month, who were alleged to be part of an online sextortion ring which targeted thousands of teenagers globally..

Last year, Perth man Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed was sentenced to 17 years jail, after he coerced 286 victims – including 180 children – into performing sexually explicit acts on camera or video.

Rasheed, 29, posed as a teenage social media celebrity to prey on the children and young adults online in 550 incidents across 11 months.

A Western Sydney man, aged 22, was also jailed last year after he sextorted a 12-year-old girl.

“When you look at sextortion, it’s definitely an under-reported crime, because the tactics used by offenders involve manipulation, shaming and embarrassment, to continue to keep that offending happening,” Commander Schneider said.

“But we don’t want children sitting at home behind closed doors, considering, potentially harming themselves or in distress when they can come forward and we can make it stop.”

To seek support, or report sextortion, visit: https://www.accce.gov.au/sextortionhelp