• Home
  • Politics
  • Health
  • World
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
What's Hot

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

May 8, 2025

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025

Top 10 Benefits Of Acupuncture

May 8, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Friday, May 9
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
  • Home
  • Politics

    Security video shows brazen sexual assault of California woman by homeless man

    October 24, 2023

    Woman makes disturbing discovery after her boyfriend chases away home intruder who stabbed him

    October 24, 2023

    Poll finds Americans overwhelmingly support Israel’s war on Hamas, but younger Americans defend Hamas

    October 24, 2023

    Off-duty pilot charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after allegedly trying to shut off engines midflight on Alaska Airlines

    October 23, 2023

    Leaked audio of Shelia Jackson Lee abusively cursing staffer

    October 22, 2023
  • Health

    Disparities In Cataract Care Are A Sorry Sight

    October 16, 2023

    Vaccine Stocks—Including Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech And Novavax—Slide Amid Plummeting Demand

    October 16, 2023

    Long-term steroid use should be a last resort

    October 16, 2023

    Rite Aid Files For Bankruptcy With More ‘Underperforming Stores’ To Close

    October 16, 2023

    Who’s Still Dying From Complications Related To Covid-19?

    October 16, 2023
  • World

    New York Democrat Dan Goldman Accuses ‘Conservatives in the South’ of Holding Rallies with ‘Swastikas’

    October 13, 2023

    IDF Ret. Major General Describes Rushing to Save Son, Granddaughter During Hamas Invasion

    October 13, 2023

    Black Lives Matter Group Deletes Tweet Showing Support for Hamas 

    October 13, 2023

    AOC Denounces NYC Rally Cheering Hamas Terrorism: ‘Unacceptable’

    October 13, 2023

    L.A. Prosecutors Call Out Soros-Backed Gascón for Silence on Israel

    October 13, 2023
  • Business

    Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

    May 8, 2025

    Electric Vehicle Sales Nosedive As GOP Takes Buzzsaw To Biden’s Mandate

    May 7, 2025

    Tyson Foods Announces It Will Bend The Knee To Trump Admin’s New Rules

    May 7, 2025

    Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady Despite Pressure From Trump

    May 7, 2025

    ‘Wait Them Out’: John Kennedy Tells Larry Kudlow One Lie He Suspects China’s Telling US

    May 7, 2025
  • Finance

    Ending China’s De Minimis Exception Brings 3 Benefits for Americans

    April 17, 2025

    The Trump Tariff Shock Should Push Indonesia to Reform Its Economy

    April 17, 2025

    Tariff Talks an Opportunity to Reinvigorate the Japan-US Alliance

    April 17, 2025

    How China’s Companies Are Responding to the US Trade War

    April 16, 2025

    The US Flip-flop Over H20 Chip Restrictions 

    April 16, 2025
  • Tech

    Cruz Confronts Zuckerberg on Pointless Warning for Child Porn Searches

    February 2, 2024

    FTX Abandons Plans to Relaunch Crypto Exchange, Commits to Full Repayment of Customers and Creditors

    February 2, 2024

    Elon Musk Proposes Tesla Reincorporates in Texas After Delaware Judge Voids Pay Package

    February 2, 2024

    Tesla’s Elon Musk Tops Disney’s Bob Iger as Most Overrated Chief Executive

    February 2, 2024

    Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth Grew $84 Billion in 2023 as Pedophiles Target Children on Facebook, Instagram

    February 2, 2024
  • More
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
Patriot Now NewsPatriot Now News
Home»Tech»Online ‘Sextortion’ is Fastest-Growing Crime Targeting Minors
Tech

Online ‘Sextortion’ is Fastest-Growing Crime Targeting Minors

January 30, 2024No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Online “sextortion” is the fastest-growing crime targeting kids in the West, and social media companies are failing to do more to prevent it, according to a recent study.

A cybercriminal group in West Africa known as “Yahoo Boys” is driving “financial sextortion,” which involves coercing kids and teens into sending explicit images of themselves, and then threatening their family with wide distribution of the images unless they pay them repeatedly via payment apps, cryptocurrency transfers, or gift cards, according to a study from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI).

The Yahoo Boys have been using the social media platforms Instagram, Snapchat, and Wizz to find and connect with their victims, the non-profit organization said. The cybercriminals also use social media platforms to promote their tactics and recruit new members.

The NCRI’s study found that the Yahoo Boys have posted training videos and guides to help others run a financial sextortion scam on social media platforms like China’s TikTok, Scribd, and Google’s YouTube.

Researchers also found dozens of videos showing self-proclaimed Yahoo Boys pulling off their sextortion scams on TikTok and YouTube. Scripts teaching other scammers what to say to their victims were also found on Scribd.

The NCRI also noted that such material published to various platforms had been more than half a million views.

In one YouTube video reviewed by NBC News and CNBC, a Yahoo Boy explained to viewers how to “catch a client,” instructing them to keep their victims engaged by acting “like a real girl.”

From there, the cyber scammers explained how to coerce their victims into sending explicit photos of themselves. The video even included a step-by-step explanation on how to threaten a victim and pressure them into sending payments.

See also  A.I. Will Never Replace Real-Life Spies, Says MI6 Boss

One document found on Scribd included a script that read, in part, “You ready to comply with me? I will make you so miserable that you can’t even think … I will send your nude to lots of people online … Do you want this to happen – yes or no. If you do not want it to happen you will have to pay me.”

“How much you got there[?] If you are thinking of 200$ forget it I’m posting your nude and gonna make you die in pain,” the script added.

The NCRI also noted that these types of scripts had been available online for years, and are still readily available on social media platforms like Meta’s Instagram and Snapchat.

Paul Raffile, a senior intelligence analyst with the NCRI who co-led the study, said sextortion is a “transnational crime threat that is actually causing a significant number of American deaths,” noting that this type of crime — which mostly impacts boys and young men — has led to victims committing suicide.

In August, for example, two Nigerian men were extradited to the U.S. to face charges involving a sextortion scam that authorities said resulted the suicide of a 17-year-old high school student in Michigan, according to a report by NBC News.

And in November, a Nigerian man was indicted by a grand jury after the Secret Service said he had used Yahoo Boys tactics — including sextortion — and wire fraud of $2.5 million, according to court filings obtained by CNBC and NBC News.

According to the indictment, the Nigerian man and his co-conspirators had used fake accounts on Facebook and Snapchat to pose as attractive young women in order to connect with young male users and gain access to their friends and follower lists, later getting them to send explicit images.

See also  Teen Indicted On Murder As A Hate Crime Charge In Death Of Dancer O’Shae Sibley

After threating to share the explicit photos, the Nigerian man promised his victims that he and his co-conspirators would delete — or at least refrain from distributing — the salacious images, as long as they receive payment.

But the scammers continued threatening their victims after receiving money, pressuring them to make additional payments, the filings stated.

Notably, these tactics of the Yahoo Boys have gained popularity in West Africa as a way to get rich quick, according to an Atavist investigation. The Yahoo Boys are even mentioned in popular songs, giving the cybercriminals more clout.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

Crime fastestgrowing Minors Online Sextortion targeting
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Singapore Should Intervene in the Region’s Online Scam Industry

January 13, 2025

Starbucks Closing One Of Its Flagship Locations As Crime Overtakes Founding City

January 3, 2025

A Guide To Effective Online Addiction Rehab

October 9, 2024

How To Determine If Online Psychiatry Is The Right Fit For Your Condition: Expert Insights

July 24, 2024
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Posts

This Sunday Riley Skin-Care Set Is a Holy Grail Gift

November 14, 2023

China Evergrande winding-up hearing adjourned as it seeks new debt deal

October 30, 2023

Minnesota clinic tries to rewrite medicine’s approach to miscarriage

September 2, 2023

For Villanova Star Maddy Siegrist, an Early Rejection Was Motivating

March 19, 2023
Don't Miss

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

Business May 8, 2025

President Donald Trump announced Thursday the U.S. has reached a trade agreement with the U.K.,…

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025

Top 10 Benefits Of Acupuncture

May 8, 2025

Electric Vehicle Sales Nosedive As GOP Takes Buzzsaw To Biden’s Mandate

May 7, 2025
About
About

This is your World, Tech, Health, Entertainment and Sports website. We provide the latest breaking news straight from the News industry.

We're social. Connect with us:

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
Categories
  • Business (4,110)
  • Entertainment (4,220)
  • Finance (3,202)
  • Health (1,938)
  • Lifestyle (1,626)
  • Politics (3,084)
  • Sports (4,036)
  • Tech (2,006)
  • Uncategorized (4)
  • World (3,944)
Our Picks

Major Tech Companies Agree to Follow Joe Biden’s Rules for AI

July 22, 2023

Gas Prices, Mortgage Rates Tick Up As Americans Remain Concerned About Economy

August 23, 2023

Feast Your Eyes On DARPins For Vision Loss

July 14, 2023
Popular Posts

Trump Announces First Post-Tariff Trade Deal

May 8, 2025

100 Funny Father’s Day Quotes for Hilariously Relatable Humor (and Plenty of Love Too)

May 8, 2025

Top 10 Benefits Of Acupuncture

May 8, 2025
© 2025 Patriotnownews.com - All rights reserved.
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.