26-04-2025
Online sextortion scam is putting teen boys in danger, FBI says. What to know.
The FBI is drawing attention to an upsurge in an online scam that's led some young victims to kill themselves.
Under the "financially motivated sextortion schemes," criminals pose on social media platforms as potential romantic interests and solicit sexually explicit photos from teenage boys, the law enforcement agency said.
The scammers then threaten to release the photos unless they receive a payment. The criminals, increasingly operating from Nigeria, collect the victim's money through gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfer and mobile payment services.
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"The amount requested varies, and the offender often releases the victim's sexually explicit material regardless of whether or not they receive payment," said a summary of sextortion tactics at the FBI's website.
"This increasing threat has resulted in an alarming number of deaths by suicide."
More than 20 juveniles in the United States have committed suicide because of sextortion schemes over the last three years, according to the FBI.
The financial scams frequently target boys ages 14-17, the FBI said.
Another form of sextortion can threaten juveniles and adults of both genders, the agency added. In those cases, a sexually motivated perpetrator demands more and more explicit photos and videos from victims.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center tallied more than 54,000 victims of sextortion last year, up from 34,000 in 2023. The crime's financial toll approached $65 million over the last two years.
Also, the agency's National Threat Operations Center saw sextortion tips rise 30% above year-before levels from October 2024 to March 2025.
"Given the alarming rise and similarities of these cases, the FBI opened investigations across the country with the goal of bringing answers and closure to grieving American families," the agency said in its April 24 statement.
Investigators identified nearly 3,000 victims of financially motivated sextortion across the country. They realized that many perpetrators were in Nigeria, providing "a larger, more international scope of this crime," according to the FBI.
As a result, the FBI said it's launched a global campaign against the schemes operating out of the African country. The surge of resources and personnel has resulted in the arrests of 22 Nigerians with alleged roles in the scheme.
"Of those 22 subjects, approximately half were directly linked to victims who took their own lives," it noted.
The FBI urged parents to have "ongoing conversations with their children and teenagers about online safety and to remind them they are not alone, and it is not their fault should they become a victim."
It noted the 988 suicide and crisis hotline operates around the clock for people in need of support.
The FBI also noted Take It Down, a free service of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, can help you remove or stop the online sharing of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images or videos taken of minors.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: FBI: Sextortion scheme tricks teenage boys, can threaten their lives
