QUANTICO, Va. -- For many of the Department of the Air Force newest recruits, the first danger they face isn’t on the battlefield, it’s in their DMs.
According to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) officials, online sextortion is on the rise, and the DAF isn’t exempt. Investigators are sounding the alarm that its youngest members are especially vulnerable.
“A simple friend request or flirty message can escalate into blackmail within hours,” said Special Agent Michael Maddox, AFOSI liaison to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. “Often fueled by fake profiles, doctored photos and even AI-generated deepfakes.”
Within the DAF, the problem is showing up most often in training environments, he added, where new Airmen and Guardians are still adjusting to military life.
“We see a lot of cases out of AFOSI Region 4, especially among 18- and 19-year-old tech school Airmen,” Maddox said, referring to the agency’s area aligned with Air Education and Training Command in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Louisiana.
Nationally, the problem is surging, too. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) reported cases of financial sextortion more than doubled in a single year, from 10,731 in 2022 to 26,718 in 2023.
Of those, teenagers make up most sextortion victims worldwide. That overlap, Maddox said, means the threat is just as real for the children of DAF personnel at home.
“Whether it’s an 18-year-old in tech school or a teenager at home, the risk is the same,” Maddox said. “Military families need to talk about it, so young people need to know they won’t face it alone if they come forward.”
By 2024, NCMEC reported more than 456,000 reports of online enticement were reported and since 2021, sextortion has been linked to the suicides of at least 36 people in the United States.
How to respond
For many victims, embarrassment leads to silence, Maddox said. Some try to pay in hopes the problem will go away.
“If you get a demand for money, whether it’s gift cards or cryptocurrency, do not pay it,” he said. “The demands never stop. We’ve seen Airmen spend thousands, often money they didn’t have, only to be told it wasn’t enough or that they took too long to send and then pressured to pay even more. It only escalates.”
Instead, AFOSI urges victims to cut off communication immediately, preserve every piece of evidence, like usernames, emails, payment instructions, screenshots and report the incident to law enforcement.
“We work closely with local law enforcement and the FBI, especially when AI and deepfakes,” he said.
But, he added, not all sextortion starts with strangers. In some cases, predators groom victims, pretending to build a close relationship until trust is established, then turn around and use that trust as leverage. Other cases involve current or former partners who use intimate images not for money, but for power. Instead of demanding payment, they threaten to post private content unless the victim stays in the relationship or gives up friendships.
“There isn’t just one script these predators follow,” Maddox said. “We’ve seen everything from strangers online, people who build trust over time or former partners using old photos to keep control.”
As the schemes have multiplied in scope and sophistication, lawmakers have also responded, too.
In May, Congress passed the TAKE IT DOWN Act, making it a federal crime to publish or even threaten to publish nonconsensual intimate images, including AI-generated digital forgeries. The law, signed into law by President Donald Trump, May 19, also requires platforms to remove reported content within 48 hours.
Protecting yourself
According to Maddox, even strong privacy settings don’t offer complete protection. Scammers often exploit what’s visible on the accounts of friends or family members, even using something as simple as a public photo album.
“Sometimes it’s not your account at all,” he said. “It may be their spouse’s page, a friend’s post, or a relative’s photos that give scammers the opening they need.”
That’s why victims hesitate to come forward, he said, especially young service members who fear for their careers. But silence allows scammers to continue targeting others.
“Sometimes Airmen are extremely embarrassed and don’t want to go to law enforcement,” Maddox said. “Having a discreet, even anonymous way to report makes it easier, and it helps get content removed quickly.”
Maddox added that parents should have “difficult conversations with their children, no matter how uncomfortable,” he said.
“I know it’s hard for a child to go to a parent and say, ‘Hey, I messed up,’” Maddox said. “But those conversations are necessary to get harmful content removed. It may be uncomfortable, but it’s better than staying silent.
“You are not the first case, and it is not your fault,” he said. “These scammers are predators. There are people here to protect you and helps prevent others from being victimized.”
Editor’s note
Department of the Air Force personnel to report immediately to their local AFOSI detachment, email afosi.watch@us.af.mil, or use the anonymous AFOSI Tipline at https://www.osi.af.mil/Submit-a-Tip/. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov), or the Federal Trade Commission (reportfraud.ftc.gov).
Support is available through the AFOSI Victim/Witness Assistance Program, the Military & Family Readiness Centers, the Chaplain Corps, and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.