Introduction
In the current hyper-connected world, where social media and smartphones dominate the lives of youth, an accelerating form of digital scam, digital sextortion, is quietly ruining young lives globally. In West Africa, young people known as Yahoo Boys in Nigeria, Sakawa Boys in Ghana, and Brouteurs in Côte d’Ivoire are being inducted into this crime, lured by a peer-driven “hustle” culture that glorifies scams as a shortcut to survival or success.
These young perpetrators often fail to see the profound harm sextortion can cause their victims, the majority of whom are also teenagers, who, when sextorted, become overwhelmed with shame, fear, and hopelessness, with some being driven to suicide. According to the Network Contagion Research Institute[i] (NCRI, January 2024) report, almost all online sextortion crimes trace back to Yahoo Boys in West Africa. The Guardian (11 May 2025, UK edition) reported that at least 46 teenage boys in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia have killed themselves after being blackmailed by online sextortion scams.
This crime destroys lives on both sides of the equation: victims experience humiliation, trauma, and even death, and offenders risk arrest, incarceration, and shattered futures in their chase for quick money. Breaking this cycle starts with understanding what sextortion is, how it occurs, why it does such long-lasting harm, and what we can all do to prevent and stop this devastating financial crime.
Sextortion and How Perpetrators Execute Their Schemes
Sextortion is a type of fraud where the criminals use blackmail, deception, or threats to make victims pay money, send additional nude photos, or other valuables by threatening to publish their personal, intimate, or sex photos or videos on the internet or to other people. UK National Crime Agency (NCA)[ii] investigations show that majority of victims of sextortion are adolescent males aged between 14 and 18.
Typically, the perpetrators start by creating fake online identities, posing as attractive young women using stolen or AI-generated photos. The perpetrators, often aged between 22 and 35, deliberately target young people via social media, messaging apps, or gaming platforms by pretending to be someone their own age who is interested in a romantic or friendly relationship.
After gaining the trust of the victim, they persuade the victims to send them nude pictures or engage in a sexual video call, which is recorded secretly. This compromised material, whether voluntarily shared, secretly recorded, or fabricated with AI, is then used to blackmail the victim for money.
In other instances, the extortion begins immediately from the time of initial contact by the perpetrator. The perpetrator will claim to already have explicit images, stolen or forged, of the victim and threaten to reveal them if not paid. Victims who pay are coerced into sending further material and further money, feeling more and more trapped.
These young extortioners act solely for money, not for sexual gratification. Thus, they are normally brutal and merciless, aggravating threats and harassment for money by bombarding victims with messages across multiple channels. Scared, embarrassed, and desperate, some victims regretfully end their lives rather than seeking help.
Impact of Distance and Emotional Disconnect
More troubling is that the majority of these young perpetrators, driven by cognitive dissonance, impulse control problems, and lowered risk perception, often downplay or deny that their actions could lead a victim to commit suicide. Some when confronted with the harm they have done, most feel little or no remorse, an unsettling emotional disconnect that angers victims’ families deeply.
Especially in an anonymous online environment, and particularly when victims are far away and faceless, the perpetrators rarely see the emotional havoc firsthand and therefore do not sympathize with victims. Some even dismiss suicide threats by victims as a joke or consider them as mere control-regaining measures, which they coldly dismiss. In a similar case, Lagos brothers Samuel (22) and Samson Ogoshi[iii] (20) mocked 17-year-old Jordan DeMay’s suicidal threats, texting him to “do it fast” when he threatened to kill himself. Jordan committed suicide soon after. The brothers were later arrested and extradited to the US and sentenced to 17½ years.
Between 2021 and 2024 [iv], digital sextortion incidents intensified as these Yahoo boys shared and spread sextortion techniques and materials on social media, teaching more young men to engage in this crime. Motivated by greed and youthful reckless, perpetrators turn sextortion into a cruel game that they must win at any cost —at the expense of their victims. Yet behind every victim is a real individual with a family and loved ones whose worlds are shattered by these crimes.
Real Cases, Real Lives
- Ryan Last[v](California, 17): Tricked by Alfred Kassi (Ivory Coast), Ryan paid but the threats continued. He died by suicide in 2022.
- North Dakota Teen[vi] (17): Targeted by Aly Cherif’s ring (Ivory Coast), his photos were shared publicly when he could not pay. He took his own life.
- Canadian Boy[vii] Robin Janjua (14): Sextorted by Olukeye Olalekan (Nigeria), who posed as a young woman. The boy died after the threats.
- Murray Dowey[viii] (Scotland, 16): Sextorted by West African scammers, he too died by suicide.
- Others: In Canada, a 12-year-old (British Columbia) and a 17-year-old (Manitoba) both died by suicide after being blackmailed by unknown perpetrators.
Stay Aware. Stay Protected
- Sextortionists rarely stop after payment. Demands often escalate, so do not pay, block the perpetrator, do not delete messages, and report them to a trusted adult or the police immediately.
- Be careful what you share online. Nothing is truly private, and deleted data can often be recovered.
- Verify who you are talking to. Photos, videos, and profiles can easily be faked or stolen.
- Be suspicious of strangers offering money, gifts, jobs, or gaming credits in exchange for pictures or videos.
- Remember, criminals often gain trust first by pretending to care before exploiting you.
It’s Time for All to Act
While agencies like the NCA (UK), FBI and Thorn (USA), EFCC (Nigeria), and Child Online Africa (Ghana) have already begun addressing this crisis in some capacity, significant opportunities for greater impact remain, with West African law enforcement, community and spiritual leaders, parents, guardians, and citizens taking the actions described below.
- Partner with youth pop stars, actors, and influencers to denounce scam through relatable skits, memes, and short videos because they hear young people.
- Counter the glorification of scam by laying bare the fake reality beneath the glittering cash and vehicles.
- Stage social media campaigns through emotional victim declarations and family witness statements on WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook platforms frequented by young scammers.
- Employ convicted scammers in video filming to disprove myths like “you can’t catch me” and demonstrate real consequences through police and INTERPOL collaborations.
- Give them proper alternatives, training schemes, grants, and scholarships to give actual opportunities to vulnerable youth rather than fraudulence.
- Parents and guardians: if you notice your ward with sudden money or fancy living standards, don’t look away, question, counsel, and protect them before losing everything.
What more can West African societies: parents, pastors, musicians, influencers, and leaders do to shift the get-rich-quick mindset driving online scams and destroying young lives?
Let us hear from you. We can start a very important conversation to save young lives.
This article was written by Nana Mantey, Founder & AML/Financial Crime Consultant at Opsel
Reference
[i] A Digital Pandemic: Uncovering the Role of ‘Yahoo Boys’ in the Surge of Social Media-Enabled Financial Sextortion Targeting Minors. Threat Intelligence Report, Network Contagion Research Institute, Jan. 2024, p8.
[ii] https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/nca-issues-urgent-warning-about-sextortion
[iii] https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/cjqqyqweqx2o
[1v] https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/Yahoo-Boys_1.2.24.pdf
[v] https://nypost.com/2025/05/13/us-news/four-west-african-men-charged-in-sextortion-scam-linked-to-california-teens-suicide/
[vi] https://www.justice.gov/usao-nd/pr/ivory-coast-man-charged-participating-sextortion-scheme-caused-death-north-dakota
[vii] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nigerian-man-convicted-bc-sextortion-1.7569049
viii] https://www.itv.com/news/2024-04-17/they-killed-our-son-the-devastating-impact-of-sextortion-scams-as-cases-soar
