Since hitting the market in 2010, Kik messenger has become one of the most popular mobile messaging platforms. The app hit over 300 million registered users just six years after its inception, and nearly half of its 15 million monthly users come from the United States(1).
The app offers anonymity, with no phone number or identifiable information required to initiate direct messages with strangers. These features are especially attractive to not only minors and young adults, who make up 70% of the userbase(2), but also scammers who wish to take advantage of them.
These same features can be used by cybercriminals to mask their true identities and lure unsuspecting targets into Kik sextortion scams. These schemes pop up with such frequency that they can be difficult to avoid, but understanding how they are conducted, common warning signs, and actions you can take to prevent and combat sextortion can help you use Kik safely.
How Sextortion Works on Kik
Kik enables sextortion much like other messaging platforms of a similar nature. A sextortionist may contact a person directly on the platform or carry the scam over from a dating site or social media app.
They begin chipping away at their target’s apprehension until they get what they want, and then things take a turn. Each case is unique, but cybercriminals typically follow some adaptation of this established extortion escapade:
The Initial Approach
Perpetrators often utilize Kik’s anonymity to pose as an attractive or trustworthy individual, building the foundation of a fraudulent online romance. They do this through social engineering tactics, grooming their target with shared interest, intense flattery, and false intimacy.
The Trap
Once the initial trust is built, the sextortionist begins moving the conversation in a sexual direction. They will propose the idea of sending nude images and may even send manufactured content to initiate this exchange.
Once the target has divulged their sensitive content, the conversation takes a complete turn. The perpetrator begins blackmailing the target with extortive threats for more content or money with the alternative of sending the images to the victim’s close contacts.
Types of Sextortion on Kik
There are three main stages of sextortion that occur on Kik. They include:
- Financial extortion: This is the stage where the sextortionist lays out their demands. They often ask for payment in the form of gift cards, crypto, or cash due to the difficulty tracing these payment methods.
- Exposure threats: To coerce these payments, sextortionists will blackmail the victim with threats to expose their sensitive content. They often utilize family, friends, and professional contacts that would be especially embarrassing for the victim.
- Repeat harassment: If the victim complies with the sextortionists demands, they are often met with continual harassment and further extortion. Once the perpetrator knows a victim is willing to pay, they are emboldened to come back for more.
Who Is Being Targeted?
While anyone can fall victim to Kik sextortion, these three groups are at the highest risk:
- Teenagers and Young Adults: This demographic makes up the largest portion of Kik’s userbase and is also the most vulnerable to manipulation. Young people are often lured into these interactions due to curiosity, peer pressure, and social engineering.
- LGBTQ+ Youth: More specifically, LGBTQ+ youth are especially at risk. As a group that is already alienated by society, sextortionists can leverage their sexuality as blackmail material by threatening to oust them to their family and friends.
- Vulnerable Adults: Like sextortion on any social media platform, adults who are desperate for intimacy are often targeted due to their willingness to engage in intimate conversations. This is especially true if the individual is at a vulnerable stage in life.
How to Spot a Kik Sextortion Scam
Kik sextortion presents itself similarly to other social media scams. Perpetrators will manipulate the victim to gain their trust using the same strategies that have worked in the past. Knowing how they operate is key to avoiding blackmail and staying safe on Kik.
Signs You’re Being Set Up
There are a few behavioral signs that may tip you off to a potential Kik sextortion scam early on in your interaction:
- New message requests from profiles with no mutual contacts
- Early and incessant requests to move from public chat to private
- A created sense of urgency to share images quickly
Red Flags in Conversations
Outside of their behavior, there are hints in a sextortionist’s tone of communication that could let you on to their true intentions. You should be wary of conversations that include:
- Overly affectionate messages from individuals you’ve just met online
- A sudden aggressive or manipulative tone after initial engagement
- Blackmail threats occurring after sharing content or refusing demands
What to Do If You’re Being Sextorted on Kik
If you recognize a sextortion scam on Kik, it’s important that you know how to proceed. You need to act quickly, but hasty and uninformed decision making can worsen an already bad situation. The following course of action can help you combat Kik sextortion and resume safe activity on the platform.
Stop Engaging
Do not continue your conversation with the sextortionist and never give in to their extortive demands. Refrain from blocking them until after the investigation is complete to avoid losing crucial evidence and prevent retaliation from the perpetrator.
Preserve Evidence
Take screenshots of their account details and any messages that convey harassment or threats. You will want to include timestamps of your interactions to recreate an accurate timeline of the events. You may feel inclined to delete your account completely, but you should keep it open until you’ve collected the necessary evidence to make your case.
Report the Incident
You should begin by reporting the account that is harassing you to Kik’s system administrator. You can report users on kick by completing the following steps:
- Open the chat and click on the user’s profile
- Tap ‘Report User’ and select ‘This person is being abusive’
- You can select to include chat history in your report
- Tap ‘Report and Block’(2)
You should also report the instance to law enforcement. Begin with a local police report and work your way up to the FBI’s IC3 taskforce if necessary. During this process, the assistance of digital forensics experts like the ones at DFC can help you secure evidence that can be used in legal proceedings.
Preventing Future Kik Sextortion Cases
Combating crimes like social media blackmail requires a conjoint effort from all users and their support system. We can create a safer environment on Kik and the rest of the internet through a collective education on cybersecurity and encouraging victims to seek help.
- Parents and Guardians: It’s important for trusted adults to create a safe space for young people to openly communicate what they are going through. Be proactive in your digital literacy and create a secure environment where you can monitor online activity without infringing on their privacy.
- Teens and Users: Users of Kik, especially minors, need to also take steps to improve their Kik safety. Optimize your privacy settings and utilize Kik’s anonymity to protect your identity. Avoid sharing private or compromising material online because you never know what will be done with it once it’s out of your hands.
- Organizations and Schools: Sextortion is a growing issue that is increasingly targeting our youth. Schools and other organizations entrusted with their safety need to promote awareness on the topic and provide resources for victims of cyber harassment, extortion, and blackmail on social media.
Resources for Victims
There are a number of free resources available online that can help educate on the risks of sextortion and other social media scams as well as provide support to victims. They include:
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: The NCMEC provides educational resources and a hub to report sextortion and other crimes against minors. Their ‘Take It Down’ tool can be used to remove intimate content and prevent its resharing.
- Internet Crimes against Children: The ICAC is a national network of 61 coordinated tasks forces dedicated to combating online crime against minors. They provide educational resources for both victims and their support system.
- American Academy of Pediatrics: The AAP is an organization comprised of 67,000 pediatricians working to preserve the health and well-being of America’s youth. They provide an educational page on sextortion with links to internal and external resources.
- Digital Forensics Corp: Here at DFC, we have a library of free educational articles covering all the different forms of cybercrime. Additionally, we provide a free service for minors, with their guardians present and aware, to receive assistance with investigating the crime committed against them.
Taking Action Against Kik Sextortion
Like any social platform, Kik can be used to commit sextortion and other cyber scams. However, there are steps you can take to keep your Kik interactions secure and safely navigate the platform.
Ultimately, you need to trust your gut. If something feels off with your conversation on Kik, end the interaction and report the user. Collectively, all Kik users need to support victims of cybercrimes on the platform and be aware of the resources that are available to help.
Knowing all of this doesn’t make Kik sextortion a zero-threat, but it will best position you to avoid potential traps. And if you find yourself caught up in a sextortion scam, know that DFC is a phone call away, and we can help you regain control of the situation.
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DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED LEGAL ADVICE ON ANY SUBJECT MATTER. DIGITAL FORENSICS CORP. IS NOT A LAWFIRM AND DOES NOT PROVIDE LEGAL ADVICE OR SERVICES. By viewing posts, the reader understands there is no attorney-client relationship, the post should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney, and readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning a specific situation.
