Sextortion is when someone sends a text or nude cell phone photos of themselves to a friend or upload it to a chat room. The result is that this gives the opportunity for someone to click save and use that photo against the person, blackmailing them into giving them what they want while threatening to release the picture.

As a result, Federal prosecutors and child safety advocates are warning parents that there is an upswing in cases of online sexual extortion. Unaware teens who text nude cell phone photos of themselves or show off their bodies on the Internet are being contacted by pornographers who threaten to expose their behavior to friends and families unless they pose for more explicit porn. This creates a vicious cycle of exploitation.

Because this is a new type of crime, no one can currently track the numbers of cases involving online sexual extortion in state and federal courts. However, prosecutors and others point toward several recent high-profile examples victimizing teens in a dozen states.

In Alabama, Jonathan Vance, 24, of Auburn was sentenced to 18 years in prison in April after he admitted sending threatening e-mails on Facebook and MySpace extorting nude photos from more than 50 young women in Alabama, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

In Wisconsin, Anthony Stancl, 18, received 15 years in prison in February after prosecutors said he posed as a girl on Facebook to trick male high school classmates into sending him nude cell phone photos, which he then used to extort them for sex.

A 31-year-old California man was arrested in June on extortion charges after authorities said he hacked into more than 200 computers and threatened to expose nude photos he found unless their owners posed for more sexually explicit videos. Forty-four of the victims were juveniles, authorities said. Federal prosecutors said he was even able to remotely activate some victims’ webcams without their knowledge and record them undressing or having sex.

What we need to teach our kids is that privacy is nonexistent on the Internet. If they upload any type of indiscretions online even only once, they are virtually impossible to take back. A nude photo sent to a boyfriend’s cell phone can easily be circulated through cell phone contacts and wind up on websites that post sexting photos. Once there, it’s available for anyone who wants to trace it back to the person who made it.

Teens are more vulnerable to blackmail because they’re easy to intimidate and embarrassed. They won’t to seek help. Unfortunately, these low-life extortionists are often willing to make good on their threats.