Australia Logged 2,000 Sextortion Complaints in Six Months. Big Tech Still Isn't Scanning for the Scripts.
Australia's online safety watchdog says the same blackmail messages keep appearing across platforms, and most major tech companies still aren't using the detection tools that already exist.
Key points
- Australia's eSafety Commissioner received more than 2,000 sextortion complaints between 1 July and 31 December 2024.
- Young men aged 18 to 24 were the most commonly targeted group during that period.
- Instagram, WhatsApp, Gmail, Google Messages, Discord and iMessage did not use language analysis to detect extortion attempts, according to eSafety's third transparency report.
- ESafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says platforms have been given the exact scripts and images criminals use, yet have not responded adequately.
- Only Microsoft was using proactive detection tools to disrupt video calls streaming live child sexual abuse.
Sextortion, where criminals trick someone into sharing intimate images and then threaten to release them unless they pay, is surging in Australia. The country's eSafety Commissioner recorded more than 2,000 complaints in just the second half of 2024. Most victims were young men aged 18 to 24, though eSafety also flagged a rise in younger teens being targeted.
The scams follow a predictable script. A stranger opens a friendly conversation, often using an AI-generated video, coaxes the victim into sharing a private image, then pivots to threats. Real messages collected by eSafety include: "I have everything to ruin your life," "Only money can help you now to end this peacefully," and "I don't f***ing care even if you block me."
First contact most often happened on Tinder, followed by Instagram, Grindr and TikTok. Threats were delivered most frequently on WhatsApp and Telegram. Blackmailers then harvested victim contact lists from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat to make the pressure more credible.
Why haven't the apps stopped this already?
Because most of them aren't scanning for the words. ESafety's third transparency report, first reported by ABC News Australia, found that Instagram, WhatsApp, Gmail, Google Messages, Discord and Apple's iMessage rely almost entirely on users reporting harm rather than scanning for known extortion language. Snapchat ran language analysis only on messages users had already flagged. Microsoft used it on Xbox but not on Microsoft Teams, its workplace chat tool. WhatsApp did use signals-based detection to identify harmful communities, but that falls well short of the language analysis eSafety is asking for.
ESafety handed these platforms the actual scripts: real coercion messages criminals reuse across hundreds of cases, along with clear guidance on what to look for. Inman Grant says the response has still been inadequate.
"Even when we've laid this out, we haven't seen adequate responses, despite the technology being readily available," she said.
We've been tracking eSafety's position on this since our 15 July report on the regulator's findings across Apple, Meta, Google and others. The transparency reports keep landing the same verdict.
The report also flagged gaps in detecting live-streamed child sexual abuse. Only Microsoft actively scanned video calls for abuse material. YouTube, Facebook Live and Instagram Live scanned public broadcasts but not private calls.
End-to-end encryption, which scrambles messages so only sender and recipient can read them, complicates scanning on platforms like WhatsApp. ESafety says, at minimum, platforms should apply language detection to the parts of their services that aren't encrypted. That's a reasonable baseline ask, and the fact it hasn't happened yet is the detail worth watching.
If you or someone you know has received this kind of threat, don't pay. Contact eSafety at esafety.gov.au. Payment rarely ends the extortion and typically invites further demands.
