Tag: online crime

More than 3,000 child sexual abuse image crimes recorded by Police Scotland in past five years

  • NSPCC sends letter to Home Secretary and DSIT Secretary of State urging action to strengthen Ofcom’s current approach to private messaging.
  • Other signatories include Barnardo’s and the Marie Collins Foundation

The NSPCC is urging the UK Government to ensure children are better protected in private messaging environments, as Scottish Government data reveals that 3,419 child sexual abuse crimes have been recorded by Police Scotland since 2019.

In the last two years they have reached record levels, with more than 700 offences being logged each year (748 in 2023/24 and 765 in 2022/23).

A separate Freedom of Information request submitted to police forces across the UK by the NSPCC showed that where law enforcement recorded the platform used by perpetrators, exactly half (50%) took place on Snapchat and a quarter on Meta products – 11% on Instagram, 7% on Facebook and 6% on WhatsApp[1]. 

In response, a joint letter from charities, including the NSPCC, Marie Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, and Barnardo’s, has been sent to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Peter Kyle.

The letter expresses collective concern regarding Ofcom’s final Illegal Harms Code of Practice published in December 2024. The charities argue that as it stands, children will not be protected from the worst forms of abuse on private messaging services under Ofcom’s plans, despite this being a core aim of the Online Safety Act.

Ofcom has stated that user-to-user services are only required to remove illegal content where it is ‘technically feasible’. This exception creates an unacceptable loophole, allowing some services to avoid delivering the most basic protections for children.

Data from police forces on the number of recorded offences where the platform was known indicates private messaging sites are involved in more crimes than any other type of platform, with perpetrators exploiting the secrecy offered by these spaces to harm children and go undetected.

The NSPCC wants the UK Government to push Ofcom to review and strengthen their most recent codes of practice on tackling this threat to children’s safety online.

The charity is also calling for private messaging services, including those using end-to-end encryption, to make sure there are robust safeguards in place to ensure their platforms do not act as a ‘safe haven’ for perpetrators of child sexual abuse.  

End-to-end encryption is a secure communication system where only communicating users can participate. This means that service providers can be blinded to child sexual abuse material being shared through their platform.

Aoife, 21, from East Kilbride, an NSPCC Lived Experience Advocate, has shared her advice to any children who experience online harms.

Aoife was exploited online when she was 15 by a man, she met online on Yubo. He pretended to be a teenager around her age and convinced her to download another app, Telegram, and then asked her to send him images of herself. Then he blackmailed her with these, threatening to share them with all her friends and family on Facebook, to control her behaviour.

When his demands became increasingly intense and frightening, Aoife recalled being told about the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) at school and reported the images. Through this, her school and then her parents were informed and supported her with reporting what happened to the police. The perpetrator was eventually sentenced in 2022 following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

She said: “If a young person is asked to share an explicit image of themselves with someone online, I would say don’t do it! You might want to and think you know what you are doing, and that you’ll be safe but if you met them online you don’t know who that person is. For all you know they could be the opposite of who they say they are, so I would say – just don’t do it. It’s not worth the risk.

“If a young person has shared an image and they are being threatened tell someone you trust whether that’s a parent, teacher or neighbour because they will look out for you and help.

“I would also say to anyone who experiences this – it’s not your fault. You are the victim. You might be thinking how could I be so silly and put myself in this position but when you are young it’s perfectly normal to make mistakes – you’re still learning – so don’t be hard on yourself. You have been taken advantage of, and they are to blame, not you.”

Insight from NSPCC counselling service, Childline, provides further evidence of how young people are being targeted or blackmailed to share child abuse images via the calculated use of private messaging apps.

Last year, Childline delivered 903 counselling sessions to children and young people relating to blackmail or threats to expose or share sexual images online. This was a 7% increase compared to 2022/23.

Chris Sherwood, NSPCC Chief Executive, said: “It is deeply alarming to see thousands of child sexual abuse image crimes recorded by Police Scotland in the past five years. These offences cause tremendous harm and distress to children, with much of this illegal material being repeatedly shared and viewed online. It is an outrage that in 2025 we are still seeing a blatant disregard from tech companies to prevent this illegal content from proliferating on their sites.

“Having separate rules for private messaging services lets tech bosses off the hook from putting robust protections for children in place.

“This enables crimes to continue to flourish on their platforms even though we now have the Online Safety Act.

“The Government must set out how they will take a bold stand against abuse on private messaging services and hold tech companies accountable for keeping children safe, even if it requires changes to the platform’s design – there can be no excuse for inaction or delay. “

UK is suffering a hidden ‘scandemic’ that’s destroying fraud victims’ lives

Thousands of people’s lives are being ruined every day in the UK by a hidden scam epidemic, according to a law firm that specialises in fraud recovery.

Richardson Hartley Law says that the country is in the grip of a ‘scamdemic’ and is calling for the Government, banks, tech giants and social media companies to do more to prevent fraud which it says is only going to get worse. 

The law firm has set up a new specialist brand and website called NationalFraudHelpline.co.uk which, not only recovers scam victims’ money on a no win, no fee basis, but is developing anti-fraud technology, campaigning for better scam safeguards and raising awareness of the scale of the problem.

The website has the latest scam news and advises the public how they can protect themselves from fraud. 

Calls for better protection comes after new rules  were introduced last week(7.10.24)  that mean that UK banks should reimburse fraud victims within five business days if they paid the scammer via authorised push payment (APP), which is when customers pay via their banking app or through logging in online.

Solicitor Martin Richardson, senior partner, at NationalFraudHelpline.co.uk, welcomed the new fraud regulations imposed by the Payment Services Regulator but said he was disappointed that the banks had recently pressured it to reduce the maximum that they had to pay out from £415,000 to £85,000.

Mr Richardson said: ‘There’s a hidden fraud pandemic in the UK that’s being hugely under-estimated. We’re describing it as a “scamdemic” and the impact is devastating. Many victims of fraud are having their lives ruined. We deal with people who have been left homeless, split up with their partners, been plunged into depression and forced to take on extra jobs.

‘Fraud is a multi-billion pound global business. Many victims in this country are falling victim to frauds that are perpetrated by people held in slave camps in South East Asia. where an estimated 200,000 people have been human trafficked and are forced to commit scams.

‘International criminals are harnessing the power of technology to commit increasingly sophisticated scams. With the advent of AI this is only going to get worse, and quickly.

‘We worry that reducing the maximum reimbursement threshold from £415,000 to £85,000 gives the banks less motivation to put in proper fraud prevention measures. There’s also a danger that this means some banks will cap the amount of compensation at £85,000 rather than compensate the full amount.

‘We’re determined, not just to get victims’ money back, but to create proper fraud prevention measures and raise awareness of how big this issue is. Millions of people are scammed in the UK each year. 

‘Technology and the internet is in everyone’s lives and it’s been a gift to fraudsters. It’s unlocked the doors for scammers who use every opportunity to steal people’s money.

‘The Government, big tech giants and social media companies all need to do much more. So many of the scams we see come through Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp as well as emails.’  

NationalFraudHelpline.co.uk has joined forces with leading UK Artificial Intelligence company, Time Machine Capital Squared, to create innovative anti-fraud technology solutions.

A spokesperson for Time Machine Capital Squared said: ‘We are confident that Machine Learning and AI are vital tools in the fight against fraud. AI will be particularly effective in helping to quickly thwart new frauds as scammers change their tactics and targets.’

The law firm is also campaigning at a national level for better fraud prevention and is sponsoring a report into ‘Banks and APP fraud’ commissioned by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Banking. The report will look at how the new APP fraud measure are working and what more can be done.

Mr Richardson said: ‘It is estimated that in 2024 one in ten people will fall victim to a scam which will total £7.5bn. That is an incredible number. The banks are suggesting people are being defrauded of around £400m a year through APP fraud alone. We believe that the true figure is between £3b to £4b.

‘The issue of fraud needs to be high up on everyone’s agenda

 ‘Fraud is particularly cruel. For victims of romance fraud, for example, they not only lose huge amounts of money but are simultaneously left heartbroken. The stories we hear each day are heartbreaking.’

Keeping people safe and secure online

£500,000 funding for communities

Projects providing practical help to support people tackle the growing risks posed by online crime will share a £500,000 fund aimed at ensuring a digitally secure and resilient Scotland.

Organisations including Scottish Union Learning and Community Enterprise, will use the money to provide workshops aimed at tackling scams and internet safety, deliver training to upskill under-represented groups into careers within cyber security and provide digital advice in different languages.

The projects will be targeted at specific groups, including disabled people and those with specific learning needs, minority ethnic groups, people living in areas of social deprivation or in rural or remote communities and those for whom English is not their first language.

Since  2019- 20 cyber crimes (crimes committed using the internet) have risen with an estimated 14,890 cyber-crimes recorded by Police Scotland in in 2022-23 almost twice the level in 2019-20 (7,710). This £500,000 fund is part of £1.16 million invested by the Scottish Government in 2023-24 to improve preparedness to withstand, defend against, manage, and recover quickly from cyber incidents.

Justice and Home Affairs Secretary Angela Constance said: “Cybercrime such as fraud and data theft can have a devastating impact on people, communities and businesses. 

“The Scottish Government is committed to building cyber resilience within all our communities and this funding will enable many more people across the country keep themselves safe and secure when going online by supporting them to gain practical knowledge and skills to recognise and avoid cyber-attacks.

“We will also continue to work closely with Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre to ensure Scotland’s public sector is resilient to cyber threats.“

Sextortion: what you can do

Police are aware of incidents of Sextortion in the Edinburgh area. They encourage anyone experiencing this to contact them:

Many people use webcams for business, gaming or to enhance their online chat experience but sometimes people you meet online aren’t always who they say they are.

Sextortion is a type of cyber-enabled extortion which involves the threat of sharing sexual information, images or clips to extort money from you, whether images actually exist or not.

The extortion often takes place when the unknown person (offender) persuades you (the victim) to remove your clothes in front of your webcam and/or perform sexual acts.

You believe this to be a private act – but it is not.  The offender, unbeknown to you (the victim) is recording everything that you do. 

Very soon afterwards the offender will threaten you. They may demand money and threaten to share the images or videos with your friends on social media, or share publicly.

What can YOU do to reduce the likelihood of it happening?

  • Be sensible when using the internet. Only activate your camera when you want to. Make sure it is ‘off’ at all times when not required. Never allow yourself to be duped into activity that you will later regret.
  • If using video chat apps, be alert to the fact that ‘contacts’ are not always who they say they are. If you allow a relationship to develop be guarded if unusual requests are made of you.
  • If you use online chat rooms looking for a person to chat with – be careful about any relationship that you form and in particular if you are asked to transfer to a different chat platform.
  • Some online chat rooms have a visual contact facility so if you are looking for a person to chat with and allow a relationship to form – be guarded on what you say and do.
  • Relationships are quick to develop. End any that you are not comfortable with – stay in control of what you do.
  • If you make a mistake, you have doubts or you need support or advice – contact the Police or a support agency immediately.

REMEMBER – what goes on the internet stays on the internet – forever.

What to do if you’re a victim of sextortion

  • Do NOT panic. You have already taken the first big step by recognising you are the ‘victim’ in this and that you may require support to help you through this difficult time. The Police will take your case seriously, will deal with it in confidence, and you will not be judged
  • Do NOT pay. Although some victims who have paid what the offenders have demanded and hear no more about it, many others who have paid have then continued to receive further and often increasing demands. In some cases, even when the demands have been met the offenders will still go on to post the videos or images anyway
  • Do NOT communicate further with the offenders. Obtain screen shots of any communication, preserve evidence. Make a note of all details provided by the offenders, for example; the Skype name (particularly the Skype ID), the Facebook URL; the Western Union or MoneyGram Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN); any photos/videos that were sent, etc. Be aware that the scammer’s Skype name is different to their Skype ID, and it’s the ID details that police will need. To get that, right click on their profile, select ‘View Profile’ and then look for the name shown in blue rather than the one above it in black. It’ll be next to the word ’Skype’ and will have no spaces in it.
  • Deactivate your social media account and use the online reporting process to report the matter to the platform to have any video blocked and to set up an alert in case the video resurfaces. Deactivating the Facebook account rather than shutting it down will ensure data is preserved and will assist law enforcement in obtaining evidence. The account can also be reactivated at any time ensuring online memories are not lost forever
  • Report the matter to the Police and your online service provider. If the blackmail is occurring through a social network, also alert the administrator.

Remember that you’re the victim of organised criminals – you’re not alone and confidential support is available. You can get through this.

Further help and support

If this has happened to you and you’re under 18 please talk to an adult that you trust. It may feel like there is no way out, but there are professionals who can help you. Whether you are a concerned Parent, a worried friend or a child or young person who has been affected by online sexual abuse you can report your concerns to CEOP.

If you have already reported your concern to your local statutory service, including children’s social services or the police, you do not need to make a report to CEOP. Further information available HERE.

Additional information, help and support available from: