Criminals sell ‘sextortion guides’ on social media, BBC investigation reveals

Criminals are distributing guides on social media that instruct individuals on how to carry out sextortion, BBC News has discovered.

These guides detail how to pose as young women online, deceive victims into sending sexually explicit material, and subsequently blackmail them.

On Tuesday, Olamide Shanu appeared in a London court, suspected of being part of a gang that extorted £2 million from adults and children through online blackmail.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) issued a warning to UK schools last month, highlighting the increasing threat of sextortion. Experts have noted a significant rise in children being targeted by gangs, particularly those based in West Africa, mainly Nigeria.

Paul Raffile, an intelligence expert specialising in sextortion, describes the crime as a “massive threat” to children. He explained that internet scammers have discovered a lucrative new target: teenagers. Scammers use social media to find victims by searching for high schools and youth sports teams, then “following” or “friending” them.

The BBC investigation found that these guides, openly sold in online videos, explain how to set up untraceable phone numbers, create fake social media profiles, and use secure payment methods. Some criminals even boast about their extortion successes, with one claiming a victim paid him “every Friday.”

Lucy, the mother of a 14-year-old victim, shared her son’s experience with sextortion. Although he did not send any explicit images, the blackmailers fabricated a compromising photo and threatened to share it unless they received money. Her son paid £100 but, with his parents’ help, shut down the account and phone, ending the harassment.

Olamide Shanu, who appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, is wanted in Idaho, USA, on charges of extortion, money laundering, and cyberstalking. The charges involve four victims, including a child, and investigators believe there could be hundreds more over three years.

Paul Raffile criticised big tech companies for not doing enough to combat sextortion, highlighting the surge of this crime on Instagram and Snapchat. Snapchat has introduced reporting options for threats involving sexual content and educational resources for teens. Meta, which owns Instagram, has implemented measures such as private accounts for teens and stricter messaging settings. TikTok emphasised its commitment to preventing harm to teens and its zero-tolerance policy for sextortion-related content.

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