Australian detectives have traced the alleged culprits of a sextortion scam, which led to a young boy taking his own life last year, to a slum in Nigeria.
Two men have been arrested and charged in Nigeria over the alleged sextortion of an Australian teenage boy who is believed to have taken his own life over the threats.
It’s alleged the pair were involved in an online scheme that threatened to share personal photos of the boy with his family and friends if he did not pay them $500.
Detectives from the Cybercrime Squad traced the threats to Nigeria, before the Australian Federal Police joined the case to pursue the alleged offenders further.
Australian intelligence relating to the case was shared with Nigerian authorities who traced the alleged offenders to a Nigerian slum in a city with a population of 25 million people.
The pair were arrested and charged and will be prosecuted locally by Nigerian authorities.
Commander of State Crime Command’s Cybercrime Squad, Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft, said there had been a 400 per cent rise in sextortion cases in the past 18 months.
“We’ve seen a huge spike in sextortion cases … but the good news is people are reporting it and there are steps we can take to help you before it goes too far,” he said.
Young people should not suffer in silence, Craft said.
“We want young people to continue to report these cases, and to never be embarrassed to talk to police. Sextortion is a very real crime that we can take serious action against,” he said.
“These arrests in Nigeria show just how far police are willing to go to seek justice on behalf of our young community.”
AFP Commander Helen Schneider said the arrests showed what could be achieved when law enforcement worked together.
”The sextortion of children is a borderless crime, as these arrests show,” Schneider said.
For more information on sextortion, head to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) website or www.esafety.gov.au.
