Lancaster County law enforcement working to bring awareness to sextortion schemes

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - With school back in session, the Lancaster County Sherriff’s office issued a warning about sextortion attempts.

Captain John Vick with LSO said they are working with the Lincoln Police Department and University Police Department to bring awareness to sextortion and its dangers. LSO said they received two reports of sextortion attempts in the last month. But, they were unaware of any financial losses in those cases.

Capt. Vick said the way this crime typically works is by a child messaging with someone over a gaming platform or text message app. That child thinks they’re talking to someone their age, but is actually a predator. The predator then turns the conversation, asking the child for inappropriate photos. Later, the predator contacts the child with the photos they sent and may demand money to avoid it being sent out to friends and family or put on the internet.

“What we really want to do is get the message out to parents that this is real, this is something that happens,” Capt. Vick said. “Unfortunately, there have been tragic consequences, it’s led to suicides and a lot of unfortunate circumstances and we want to prevent that when we can.”

LSO said parents should remember that it’s important to discuss these topics with your children and have open channels of communication of sensitive topics. If someone has been subjected to a sextortion scheme, LSO said to head to the FBI’s designated page about sextortion.