By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has raised concerns over the increasing threat of sextortion gangs from Nigeria and other West African countries targeting British teenage boys.
The NCA stated that these gangs, operating on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, are luring teens as young as 14 by posing as young women and extorting them for money.
They blackmail the victims by threatening to expose their intimate photos unless a payment is made.
A report from the UK-based platform, Leading British Conversation, obtained by PUNCH Metro, revealed that these gangs, believed to be from Nigeria and Ivory Coast, demand payment after the victims send explicit images.
If the demands aren’t met, the gangs threaten to share the images with the victims’ friends, family, or classmates.
Marie Smith, a senior manager at the NCA’s child exploitation and online protection command, described the abuse as “extremely disturbing” and noted that most of the offenders are from West African countries.
She also shared that even adults as old as 30 have fallen victim to these scams, with some tragically taking their own lives due to fear of exposure.
The NCA is working with law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to crack down on the gangs. “We’re working internationally with our Nigerian counterparts, which is where we’re seeing most of this abuse happening,” Smith said.
NCA Director of Threat Leadership, Alex Murray, called sextortion “unimaginably cruel” and said the campaign aims to empower young boys with the knowledge to recognize and report such crimes.
In 2024, the NCA’s safety center received 380 reports of sextortion. In a related case, two Nigerian brothers were sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison in the U.S. for committing a similar crime.
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