The purpose of the Say No project, launched on Monday, is to point to the traps children and youths can come across while using the internet, and to provide advice on how to prevent and react to child sexual coercion and extortion on the internet.

As part of the campaign, Europol has launched a special web page providing all information about the project, including a video clip made specially for raising awareness about the issue. The video has been translated into 23 languages, including Slovenian.

Perpetrators usually manage to acquire photographs or videos with explicit content from the victims, which is followed by extortion. They usually demand a meeting or money (including cryptocurrencies) to be transferred on various accounts.

On the occasion, the Slovenian police said that it dealt with around 10 such cases a year, while assessing that the number of unreported cases was probably considerably higher.

The amounts requested by extortionists range from EUR 20 to EUR 150. They come both from Slovenia and abroad and belong to different social classes and environments. They are mostly men and loners without a developed social life.