Online sextortion reports in Finland have risen sharply, Finnish police say, as organised criminals increasingly trick teenagers into sharing explicit photos or videos and then demand money to stop the material being circulated. The warning comes after a steep rise in criminal complaints filed this year, with boys making up the vast majority of identified victims.
Complaints jumped from single digits to triple digits
Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi, NBI) said police recorded nine reported cases of this type of online blackmail in the three-year period 2019–2021. The number of criminal reports then rose to 30 in 2022, 77 in 2023 and 73 in 2024.
In the first nine months of 2025, Finnish police received 101 criminal complaints related to suspected online sextortion involving self-made explicit images or videos.
Police stressed that official figures likely capture only part of the problem, because victims who pay may never report the crime.
How online sextortion works and why boys are targeted
According to Finnish police, cases often begin with offenders posing as young women on social media platforms popular among teenagers. The scammers ask a child to send sexually explicit photos or videos. Once they have the material, the tone changes: the offender threatens to share it with the victim’s friends or family, or to post it publicly, unless the victim complies with a demand.
The demand is most commonly money, typically ranging from a few hundred euros to thousands of euros. But police note that other forms of coercion can also occur, depending on the offender and the victim’s situation.
While girls are more frequently victims in many categories of sexual offences against minors, police said financially motivated sexual extortion is an exception. In the cases known to Finnish investigators, 94% of victims were boys, usually over 13 years old, and more than 80% were between 14 and 17.
Why the problem is hard to measure
Police emphasised that sextortion is underreported because of shame, fear, and panic. A victim who has paid may believe the incident is “over” and avoid involving authorities. However, Finnish investigators warned that paying is not a guarantee the threats will stop.
Police also described the phenomenon as increasingly professionalised. In many cases, Finnish authorities suspect offenders operate from abroad, which can make identification and enforcement more complex and can prolong the victim’s uncertainty.
What Finnish police say victims and families should do
Finnish police urged victims not to negotiate or pay, and to seek help quickly. They advised saving evidence (such as screenshots and usernames) where possible, blocking the offender, and reporting the crime through official channels.
The NBI also highlighted the role of parents and other trusted adults: victims are more likely to report what happened if they expect support rather than punishment, and if adults understand that manipulation and pressure are central to these cases.
A Nordic pattern: Denmark and Norway report sharp increases
Finland is not alone in seeing a rise in financially motivated sextortion.
In Denmark, the National Unit for Special Crime (National enhed for Særlig Kriminalitet, NSK) issued a warning about a growing number of sextortion cases targeting boys and young men. Danish police said financially motivated sextortion cases had doubled compared with 2022, when authorities received around 600 reports about this type of sextortion.
Separate Danish figures referenced in parliamentary material show that while sextortion reports involving female victims remained broadly stable in recent years, reports involving male victims rose from 98 cases in 2019 to 589 cases in 2022, making up close to 70% of sextortion reports in 2022.
In Norway, an intelligence report by the national criminal police (Kripos) estimated that at least 1,891 people were victims of financially motivated sexual extortion between 1 January 2023 and 31 October 2024, and 98% of identified victims were male. The report also noted that victims include both adults and children, and that offenders often operate internationally.
Sweden and Iceland: warnings, limited comparable statistics
In Sweden, police have publicly warned that sextortion targeting young people is increasing and that a large share of victims are teenage boys, with perpetrators typically using threats to force payments. Swedish public authorities have not published a directly comparable nationwide figure specifically for financially motivated sextortion of minors, but police and child-protection organisations have described a steady rise in reports and support requests.
In Iceland, police have also warned about sextortion, with public broadcaster RÚV reporting that the capital-area police receive several calls per week from people who believe they are being blackmailed with intimate material.
Why this matters beyond Finland
Sextortion sits at the intersection of child protection, cybercrime, and cross-border enforcement. Police warnings across the Nordics point to a shift in how criminals monetise online exploitation — particularly by focusing on victims who may be less likely to report.
The trend also intersects with wider European debates about platform responsibility, digital safety by design, and how law enforcement can respond when perpetrators and victims are in different jurisdictions.
Finland’s rising numbers, and similar warnings from Denmark and Norway, suggest that online sextortion has become a mainstream risk for teenagers in the region — and one that will likely remain on the agenda for Nordic police and policymakers in 2026.
