An 18-year-old Mercer County man told State Police that he is a victim of sextortion.

Authorities say the Coolspring Township man came to police headquarters last week to report that someone had obtained an explicit video of him from the internet and threatened to release it to all his social media contacts if he didn’t pay them.

The alleged victim said that he sent the unknown extortioner $494.77 via electronic transfer.

The FBI says it has seen an increase in the number of financial sextortion cases targeting minor victims in the U.S.

Financial sextortion is different from traditional sextortion which mostly involves children and teens being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online.

In the case of financial sextortion, the offender receives sexually explicit material from the child and then threatens to release the compromising material unless the victim sends money and/or gift cards.

The amount requested varies, and the offender often releases the victim’s sexually explicit material regardless of whether they receive payment. This increasing threat has resulted in several deaths by suicide.

If young people are being exploited, they are the victim of a crime and should report it. Contact your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or report it online at tips.fbi.gov.