New Delhi: The crime of sextortion has escalated over the past couple of years and is only “almost certain” to intensify further in the near future because of the likelihood of success, an Interpol report has said.
The issue has further worsened rapidly because of the introduction of Artificial Intelligence which has made it easier to generate sexually explicit content such as AI-generated personas and deepfake images and to escalate from flirtation to intimacy, the Interpol report said.
These findings were made public by Interpol in its latest Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment, released on the sidelines of the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna. The two-day summit, which started on Monday, was jointly organised by Interpol and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), bringing together more than 1,300 participants, including government officials, law enforcement agencies, private-sector leaders, tech companies and civil society organisations.
In the same report, Interpol said that the number of notices it issued for fraud cases rose by 54 percent since 2024, and that it helped its member nations in 1,500 transnational fraud cases that had resulted in loss of assets amounting to $1.1 billion.
The Interpol further said that the offences of sextortion are being systematically integrated into scams such as investment fraud, using scripts and AI-generated content. “Over the last two years, Interpol has observed an escalation in the reporting of financially motivated sextortion across all regions of the world. The recent surge in sextortion is likely a result of the ease of execution and effectiveness of this fraud type, when facilitated by AI,” the Interpol report said.
“AI‑generated personas, deepfake images, and scripted emotional manipulation make it easier to escalate from flirtation to intimacy. These so-called hybrid fraud schemes, notably involving sextortion, which are more likely to yield returns, are almost certain to further intensify in the near future. While these crimes primarily target adults, member countries have also reported the victimization of minors,” it further said.
In India, offences amounting to sextortion accounted for nearly 4 percent of the total money lost last year even as investment scams, which accounted for more than 75 percent of the money lost to cybercrime, continued to be the dominant form.
The Interpol report also emphasised that the concept of scam centres, once a phenomenon in Southeast Asian countries, has quickly evolved into a global issue, with Africa emerging as a hotspot for such illegal activities. Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said that the availability of low-cost digital tools, coupled with the widespread use of artificial intelligence, has led to the “industrialisation” of fraud.
“Enabled by artificial intelligence, low-cost digital tools and increased global criminal collaboration, we are witnessing the industrialization of fraud,” Urquiza said. “It is vital to remember that the cost of financial crime is not just money—it is people’s life savings, their dignity, and in the worst case, their life. Strengthening cooperation between law enforcement, the private sector and raising public awareness is key in tackling this global security threat.”
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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