Teachers warned to be on lookout for victims of sextortion in UK schools

Teenage boys believed to be among most vulnerable to gangs using real and fake images to blackmail victims

• ‘It can happen to any child’: parents of sextortion victim fight for justice

Teachers in the UK are being asked to help spot signs their pupils are becoming victims of sextortion, with teenage boys thought to be among the most vulnerable groups.

The National Crime Agency has issued fresh guidance, saying criminal gangs – often based abroad – are using both real and fake images to blackmail their victims; sometimes going from initial contact to extortion within an hour.