I have your nudes and everything needed to ruin your life. This chilling message was received on social media by US teenager Evan Boettler, from someone he had previously believed to be a young girl - in fact, it was a cyber-scammer. Just 90 minutes after receiving the first message, the 16-year-old took his own life.
Sextortion - sexual extortion - is one of the fastest-growing online crimes. Victims - often teenagers in the US and Europe - are tricked into sending intimate photos or videos, which the scammers threaten to pass on unless they are paid. When they finally told us that night that he was gone, it didn't make any sense. I don't understand how this could happen to our family, says Evan's mother Kari.
Nearly two years later, the Boettlers' grief has been raw, and their search for answers met with frustration. Social media platforms such as Meta refuse to share information without a court order - which the family does not yet have, despite pressing the FBI to act. In the years since Evan died, law enforcement seems to have made little progress.
The trail eventually led to digital locations in Nigeria, known for housing scammers operating in what are called 'Hustle Kingdoms'. These groups run complex operations with leaders, mentor-mentee hierarchies, and pooled resources for financial gain. Inside these rooms, scammers employ various tactics to manipulate and extort money from their young targets, who often suffer terribly in silence.
Critically, efforts to confront and curb sextortion highlight a failure of social media platforms to adequately protect users, and the testimonies of parents like Evan's father, Brad, express a profound need for systemic change in online safety practices as the number of sextortion cases continues to rise. With parents raising alarms and law enforcement struggling to make strides against these scammers, the need for increased awareness, stronger protections, and justice for victims is more pressing than ever.
Sextortion - sexual extortion - is one of the fastest-growing online crimes. Victims - often teenagers in the US and Europe - are tricked into sending intimate photos or videos, which the scammers threaten to pass on unless they are paid. When they finally told us that night that he was gone, it didn't make any sense. I don't understand how this could happen to our family, says Evan's mother Kari.
Nearly two years later, the Boettlers' grief has been raw, and their search for answers met with frustration. Social media platforms such as Meta refuse to share information without a court order - which the family does not yet have, despite pressing the FBI to act. In the years since Evan died, law enforcement seems to have made little progress.
The trail eventually led to digital locations in Nigeria, known for housing scammers operating in what are called 'Hustle Kingdoms'. These groups run complex operations with leaders, mentor-mentee hierarchies, and pooled resources for financial gain. Inside these rooms, scammers employ various tactics to manipulate and extort money from their young targets, who often suffer terribly in silence.
Critically, efforts to confront and curb sextortion highlight a failure of social media platforms to adequately protect users, and the testimonies of parents like Evan's father, Brad, express a profound need for systemic change in online safety practices as the number of sextortion cases continues to rise. With parents raising alarms and law enforcement struggling to make strides against these scammers, the need for increased awareness, stronger protections, and justice for victims is more pressing than ever.
