http://www.flickr.com/photos/mshades/2404442122/sizes/m/#cc_license

I know you may be thinking, “Oh Lord. What now?” Yeah, there’s always something new in town on the web but this is nothing new. Just a new take on an old idea. The concept is simple: Some guy gets his hands on some not so appropriate images of your daughter (and in some cases, your son) and then uses those photos to extort her to perform sex acts via webcam or more photos, telling her that if she doesn’t want those original photos to go out to all of her family and friends, she better comply with his demands. There’s the story which hit the news, about a 40 year old man from Massachusetts who posed as a 17 year old to gain nude photos from underage girls, then extort them into performing sex acts on webcam. There’s also Anthony Stancl, an 18 year old senior who posed as a girl on Facebook to get nude photos of 30 of his fellow male classmates. He was arrested and is now doing 15 years in prison.

This is happening to teenagers and in some cases tweens, so what can you do to lessen the chances that your child will become a victim of one of these internet predators? We’ve outlined 5 steps you can take to help combat this problem.

» Read more: First, Sexting. Now, Sextortion and 5 tips to prevent it.