Top Takeaways From Businessweek’s Investigation of Teenage Sextortion
Internet gangs are tricking boys into sending nude photos, with tragic consequences.
Kyla Palomaki looks at the Instagram profile of her boyfriend Jordan DeMay.
Photographer: Kevin Serna for Bloomberg BusinessweekA digital crime wave targeting teenage boys is having deadly consequences. Sexual extortion, or what the Federal Bureau of Investigation calls sextortion, is when a scammer tricks someone into sending a nude selfie and then blackmails that person by threatening to send the picture to their friends and family.
A Bloomberg Businessweek investigation reveals the ways digitally savvy Nigerian scammers are using social media to target thousands of victims in the US, earning them millions of dollars and leading to at least 20 suicides over an 18-month period. Scammers have shared video playbooks on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube showing how to blackmail teens and rely on Instagram and Snapchat to connect with victims and find their friends and family.