A global investigation involving state and federal police has led to the conviction of two scammers for their role in a vicious sextortion plot that drove a NSW boy to suicide.
On Wednesday, a Nigerian court sentenced the two men, aged 25 and 29, to more than 40 years in jail for their role in the scam. It is the first time Australia has played a role in convicting sextortion scammers abroad.
The boy of high school age took his life in 2023 after being contacted by a “girl” who encouraged him to reciprocate sexualised photos. The “girl” sent a racy photo, and the boy sent one back.
But NSW police said the tone of the social media messages changed instantly and radically to “high-pressure threats and demands”.
The “girl” immediately demanded $500 in online gift cards, threatening to distribute his naked photos to his family and school friends if he didn’t comply.
Hours later, the teenager killed himself.
The Herald has chosen not to identify the teen’s age or town in accordance with the wishes of his family.
In investigating his death and preparing evidence for the coroner, NSW Police found the messages that caused his suicide, establishing a strike force Prescribe with the State Crime Command’s cybercrime squad, which traced the plotters to Nigeria.
Detectives discovered the Nigerian scammers were using a “scattergun” approach to target numerous children for relatively small amounts of money.
Cybercrime detectives requested assistance from the Australian Federal Police, who connected with the Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3), which in turn worked with its dedicated cybercrime liaison officer in South Africa to share intelligence with the Nigerian authorities.
They were able to narrow the scammer’s online trail down to an immense sprawl of slums in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, home to 25 million people.
In March 2024, local police swooped. The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested and charged the two men with sextortion, fraud and money-laundering offences.
On Wednesday, two years after their arrest, the two were jailed for more than 40 years, with a non-parole period of 10 years.
Commander of State Crime Command’s Cybercrime Squad, Detective Acting Superintendent Jason Smith, said the investigation was an Australian law enforcement first.
“This investigation pushed Australian cybercrime capability into new territory, using innovative techniques and unprecedented international cooperation that directly led to the offenders being identified and convicted overseas,” he said.
“Any person who targets Australians online can and will be identified, traced and brought before the courts, no matter where they are in the world.”
AFP Detective Superintendent Andrea Humphrys, based in Pretoria, South Africa, thanked the “tenacious” work of state and Nigerian police.
“This result highlights the importance of international collaboration in law enforcement, with these offenders sentenced to a maximum of more than 80 years’ combined jail time for their role in an abhorrent crime that sadly cost a young Australian his life,” she said.
“Our collective work has hopefully brought a small amount of comfort through justice for this young man’s family.”
The Australian Federal Police issued a warning in 2024 over the rise of “sadistic” sextortion online, by which children as young as 12 were coerced to self-produce explicit material to gain acceptance into extreme online communities.
Offenders will then threaten to share the material with their family or friends unless the victim produces more videos and extreme content. They will “relentlessly demand” content escalating in its seriousness, including specific live sex, acts, animal cruelty, serious self-harm, and live online suicide.
The eSafety Commissioner’s office has observed an “alarming” surge in sextortion cases. Reports to eSafety have soared from 432 in 2018-19 to 6187 in 2022-23, a 1332 per cent increase.
Anyone needing support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 (lifeline.org.au), the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and suicidecallbackservice.org.au) and Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636 and beyondblue.org.au)
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