493 Cases of Sextortion Against Children Linked to Notorious Scam Compounds
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Summary
Nearly 500 reports of child sextortion made over a two-year period to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) have been attributed to scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
Another 18,000 reports also contain IP addresses linked to the locations.
At least 40 of 44 previously identified scam compounds in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos can be linked to the child sexual exploitation reports.
A two-year review of more than 1.1 million online enticement reports, including 3.1 million IP addresses, found that at least 493 reports were likely directly connected to the compounds.
Child safety group Safe Online and Thomson Reuters Social Impact Institute funded the research.
Although there is no evidence that children are being specifically targeted in sextortion cases, the links between the scams and sexual exploitation of minors found in the research highlight the need for more research to be carried out.
