1. AI-generated sexual images from ordinary photos
A child doesn't necessarily have to send a nude photo anymore. An offender can take an ordinary image from Instagram, TikTok, a school/team page, or another public account and use AI to create a fake sexually explicit image.
Offenders create AI-generated explicit images and then use them for sextortion—even when the child never originally sent an intimate image.
Parent lesson: Public photos of children can potentially be misused. Consider limiting publicly accessible photos and reviewing who can download, follow, message, or interact with your child's accounts.
2. “Nudify” apps
AI tools can now be used to manipulate ordinary photographs into fake nude images. This creates a particularly nasty situation where a child may be threatened with an image that was never actually taken.
3. Predators using hacked or cloned accounts
It's not always an obviously fake profile. The FBI says offenders have used hacked legitimate accounts and copycat accounts to make themselves appear to be someone the child already knows. Teach your children:“Even if an account looks like someone you know, verify it another way before sending private information or pictures.”
4. Fake teenage profiles specifically designed to target boys
The FBI has documented offenders creating profiles that appear to belong to teenage girls, sometimes targeting multiple boys who know each other.
5. Immediate sextortion instead of long-term grooming
Not every predator spends weeks developing a relationship. Some approaches are essentially:
friend request → sexual conversation → image/video → immediate blackmail.
The FBI says sextortion can begin with romance, an offer of something valuable, or an immediate threat claiming the offender already possesses an image.
7. Fake evidence designed to make the child panic
This is another newer tactic worth explicitly explaining. Offenders may create things such as fake posts, fake news headlines, collages, or screenshots showing the victim's friends and family to convince them that exposure is imminent.
The objective is panic → compliance → more material/money.
8. Violent online networks
The FBI notes that that are more and more online networks that specifically target vulnerable minors through social media, gaming platforms, Discord-type communities, and messaging apps.
These groups can go beyond sexual exploitation and use:
Grooming
Sexual blackmail
Doxxing
Threats
Swatting threats
Self-harm coercion
Forced humiliation
Recording harmful acts
Threats against family members
9. Targeting vulnerable children
Predators increasingly exploit things a child may be struggling with—loneliness, social isolation, relationship problems, low self-esteem, or a desire for acceptance.
The FBI says violent online networks have specifically targeted vulnerable young people and may initially establish a trusting or romantic relationship before escalating to coercion.
10. Public information gathering before contacting the child
A predator can potentially piece together information from:
Instagram/TikTok
School websites
Sports rosters
Team photos
YouTube
Public gaming profiles
Friends' accounts
Location tags
Family members' social media
That can make a stranger appear surprisingly familiar:
“I go to your school too.”
“I know your friend Sarah.”
“I saw you at the game.”
That familiarity can dramatically increase trust.
11. Livestreaming is a particularly important risk
But livestreaming can give strangers access to:
A child's face
Voice
Room/home environment
School information
Daily routines
Friends
Location clues
The FBI specifically lists livestreaming and video platforms among the places predators target children.
12. Student-athletes and publicly visible kids
On August 10, 2026, the FBI and NCAA issued a warning that student-athletes can be particularly attractive targets because their public profiles and visibility increase both exposure and the leverage offenders believe they have.
Be wary of your kid's
sports rosters + team photos + school information + social accounts + location information.
NCMEC reported more than 50,000 reports of financially motivated sextortion involving children in 2025, averaging about 137 reports per day.
And NCMEC reported 1.4 million online-enticement reports in 2025, including more than 80,000 sextortion reports.
STAY VIGILANT AND REMEMBER IT CAN BE AUTHORITY FIGURES