The FBI Memphis Field Office issued a warning in April about an increase in sextortion scams involving teenage boys.
Posing as a young girl, the crook initiates contact with the victim through an online platform, convinces him to share explicit photos or engage in explicit activity the crook records, and then demands money to prevent the images from being shared online. The online platform could be a game, an app or a social media account.
The nature of the crime and immaturity of the victim can result in tragic consequences.
A 17-year old boy committed suicide in March after sharing an explicit photo with someone he met on Twitter and thought was a teenage girl. The crooks demanded $1,000 but said they’d settle for $300 because that’s all he had.
After he sent the money, they pressured him for more and he killed himself. Only six hours had passed from when he received the initial message.
The mother of a South Carolina victim who contemplated suicide, but fortunately didn’t follow through, thought she had done everything she could to teach her son about online safety. She said she would have never thought in a million years that her son would talk to someone he didn’t know online and that if it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone’s child.
Hear from Tennessee’s Black voices:Get the weekly newsletter for powerful and critical thinking columns.
A Florida man was sentenced to 105 years in prison after he convinced teenage girls in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to engage in explicit sexual activity online and then threatened to share the images unless they sent more. Authorities identified 109 victims, but believed there were over 200 more.
The FBI issued an alert in September about sextortion scams being perpetrated on LGBTQ+ dating apps.
I wrote an earlier column about a version of the scam in which people receive an email message saying the crook installed spyware on their computer and recorded them visiting porn sites and engaging in explicit behavior, and demands payment to prevent the images from being shared.
In 2021, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 18,000 sextortion-related complaints, with losses of more than $13.6 million.
The FBI and BBB offer these tips to protect you or a child from a sextortion scam:
If you think you or someone you know has been a victim, contact your local FBI field office. Don’t delete anything before they’ve reviewed it.
Randy Hutchinson is the president of the Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South. Reach the BBB at 800-222-8754.
About Author
