(TotalConservative.com) – Suicide can be a deadly consequence of an extortion scam where young people are misled and coerced into sharing private photographs online through social media with predators posing as someone else.
Jordan DeMay, 17, ended his life after a Nigerian man posing as a woman elicited sensitive photographs from the minor and threatened to release them unless he was paid $1,000. DeMay sent the man $300 but was unable to make up the difference, resulting in repeated threats of exposure, and ultimately DeMay’s tragic suicide.
The alleged perpetrator Samuel Ogoshi is one of three Nigerian men from Lagos involved in a “sextortion” ring that targeted more than 100 young men. The suspects were arrested in early June for using hacked accounts of real women to communicate with and elicit explicit photographs from the men before threatening to publish them online and make them “go viral.”
DeMay told Ogoshi he was going to commit suicide to which the latter replied “Good. Do that fast. Or I’ll make you do it.” The FBI is charging Ogoshi and his co-conspirators with numerous crimes, including causing the death of the distraught teen.
Instagram owner Meta issued a brief statement to Fox News Digital where they said they were working hard to avoid exploitation like this from occurring on their platform. They also outlined their willingness to cooperate with law enforcement and helped found NCMEC’s TakeItDown, an organization that helps minors get their explicit images removed from social media.
Jordan’s father, John DeMay, outlined all the steps he took to keep his son safe including monitoring his text messages and not letting the boy have unlimited access to social media until he was older. Teenagers have been increasingly sending explicit images of themselves online, one 2018 study found that 15% of kids were sending the images while 27% had received them.
A 2022 film highlighted the dangers of sextortion, and shows that this is a real danger all children with access to social media face.
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