'I get evritin to ruin you' - BBC track down sextortion scammer wey dey target teenage boys
Wetin we call dis foto, Evan Boettler parents describe am as bright, funny teenager wey love to fish, play sport and hunt
Author, Tir Dhondy Role, BBC Three
5 October 2025
"I get your nudes and evritin wey I need to ruin your life."
Dis chilling message na wetin one US teenager Evan Boettler bin receive on social media, from pesin wey e don previously believe say na young girl - but na cyber-scammer.
Just 90 minutes afta e receive di first message, di 16-year-old take im own life.
Sextortion - sexual extortion - na one of di fastest-growing online crimes. Victims - wey sometimes be teenagers for di US and Europe - dem dey trick dem into sending intimate fotos or videos, wey di scammers dey threaten to share on unless dem pay.
"Wen dem finally tell us dat night say e don go, e no make any sense. I no understand how dis fit happun to our family," Evan mama, Kari, tok.
Dem no support media player for your device Play video, "'This room is a showcase to our son'", Duration 0,40 00:40 Wetin we call dis Video, Evan parents show Tir round im room and explain how im items bring back good memories, but make dem realise di scale of dia loss
For di Missouri home wey she dey share wit Evan papa, Brad, she describe dia son as bright, funny teenager wey love to fish, play sport and hunt.
Dem tell me how late for one cold afternoon for early January 2024, one pesin wey Evan bin believe say na girl wey dem dey call Tee60 contact am on Snapchat.
But she no be wetin she be like. Within minutes, "Jenny" persuade am to share explicit images of imsef and immediately begin to ruthlessly blackmail am.
Nearly two years later, di Boettlers grief dey raw, and dia search for answers meet wit frustration.
Social media platforms such as Meta refuse to share information witout court order - wey di family no get yet, despite pressing di FBI to act. For di years since Evan die, e be like say law enforcement dey only make little progress.
However, e get one crucial trace - at one point di scammer demand Evan Facebook login, and wen dem use dis, dem leave dia IP address behind.
Dat digital footprint lead me to multiple locations for Nigeria, most frequently na di most-populated city, Lagos, wia I hope to discover who dey responsible.
My first meetings take me to di back streets wey be home to many of di city fraudsters, wey dey known as "Yahoo Boys", wey dem name afta di email dem bin dey use run online scams for di early 2000s.
Dis young men, wey often dey dia 20s, dey live for poor areas but dem dey dream of fast cars and quick money.
Dem no support media player for your device Play video, "'I don't feel bad, I need the money'", Duration 0,38 00:38 Wetin we call dis Video, 'I no feel bad, I need di money' - Ola explain why e dey target teenagers
Dat na wia I meet Ola. E lay out di mechanics of sextortion wit matter-of-fact.
"You open female account using fake names from fake generators," e tok. "Na site wia you get names of pipo from di kontri wey you want."
Once di profile dey set up, di targeting go begin. Di boys on di oda end of di screen become notin more dan usernames to di scammers wey dey message hundreds of pipo per day, hoping say one go send dem cash.
I tell am dis dey bad and fit ruin pesin life. E reply: "I no feel bad becos I need di money."
E dey apparently impossible for Ola to believe say British or American teenager no fit pay. For im mind, to dey born for di West automatically mean say privilege dey.
Im reply dey equally stark wen we ask am why e dey target dem. "Becos dia sex drive dey so high, and young boys dey fear make dia pictures no dey released to dia class groups, dia parents and dia friends."
Wetin we call dis foto, We watch as di men for di Hustle Kingdom conduct dia scams - mostly financial or romance fraud
Ola work alone, but oda cases show how sextortion for Lagos don evolve into more organised networked operations - gangs run wit leaders, hierarchies and pooled resources, designed to maximise profit.
Di trail eventually take me into di waterways of Makoko, one of di city poorest districts, wia wooden houses balanced on stilts rise on di edge of Lagos Lagoon.
To film dia, we first gatz seek permission from di community chief, and we dey guided throughout by local crew of fixers wey sabi how to navigate dia maze of waterways.
Dem tell me about operations wey dey known as "Hustle Kingdoms" – rooms wey get gangs of young men on phones running scams. Dem neva film dem bifor. But afta much negotiation, dem give me access.
Dis particular Hustle Kingdom dey on di second floor of low-rise building. Inside di small room, dozen of young men sit wit laptops on dia knees, all dia phones buzzing wit messages from potential targets.
Di atmosphere dey like call centre - dem dey swap fake profiles, traded scripts, and pass around di names of new victims.
Each young man play dia part, but di money all flow upwards to dia leader, known as Ghost. For dia, di experienced scammers dey teach dia apprentices.
To lure dem na just quick cash, but under dia bravado na somtin wey dey more predatory - boys as young as dia early teens dey effectively groomed into crime.
Older "mentors" enta success stories and social status, while imposing debts or taking cut of evri scam, to create cycle wey dey difficult to escape.
To watch dis men to work, I realise how e dey different from di lone scammers. Dis dey organised, efficient and relentless - system wey dey designed to extract as much money as possible.
Abi Evan scammer dey part of Hustle Kingdom, or e dey operate alone? Di leader, Ghost, say dem dey mainly conduct financial scams, mostly romance, not sextortion, as e be "God-fearing pesin".
E say only pipo wit "black heart" do dis. For dis Hustle Kingdom, sextortion dey seen as shameful.
Wetin we call dis foto, We follow Ade as e visit traditional healer, for ceremony wey involve sacrificing dove in order to bind am to wealth
Dis scammers tell me say lot of Yahoo boys dey transition into wetin dem call "Yahoo Plus". Dis dey involve dem to visit local priests to bless scams, and to cast spells wey dem believe say go make victims more compliant, or protect di scammers make dem no catch dem.
Traditional healers don dey woven into Nigerian culture for a long time, and for some of dis men, dem dey turn to dem as natural as buying new Sim card.
I meet Ade, 20-year-old wey recently start to dey sextort men. E agree to let me follow am to so-called cyber-spiritualist, one man wey e believe fit help am make more money. Di shrine dey tucked away down di side street on di edge of di city for low-roofed room wey dey crowded wit carved figures.
Dem bring out one dove for sacrifice, dem spill di blood into di floor. Dem tell Ade to chop part of di offering wey be ritual wey di spiritualist say go bind am to wealth and protection.
Wen I ask how common dis dey, di healer tell me e bin see six or seven Yahoo Boys a day bifor. For Ade, no be superstition but business expense.
Wetin strike me most na di contrast between di old and di new. One moment, I dey watch 20-year-old dey take part for ritual wey dey rooted for centuries-old beliefs. For di next, dem dey show me di tools of di digital age.
Later, I also discover one scammer wey dey use 21st Century sorcery - deepfake technology wit woman wey e don hire, Rachel, wey dey act as di face of di con. E show me di app for im laptop, one professional-grade face-swapping tool wey cost am $3,500 (£2,600). E say e worth am for di returns.
Wetin we call dis foto, Brandon Guffey 17-year-old son take im own life afta dem target am on Instagram
For di US, reports of sextortion to di FBI get more dan double for di past three years, reaching high of 55,000 for 2024. For di UK, 110 reports dey received by di National Crime Agency each month.
Social media companies say dem dey act but dia critics argue say dem fit intervene more aggressively.
For South Carolina, I meet Brandon Guffey, one state representative wey im son Gavin take im own life for 2022 afta dem target am for Instagram. E be 17.
Bifor im son death, Brandon bin dey prepare lawsuit against Meta, wia e argue say di company don fail to protect am from predators. One of di accounts wey dem use to blackmail am dey eventually removed, but odas still remain live. For Brandon, dat detail dey bad.
Meta say for 2024, dem taken down 63,000 sextortion accounts wey dey linked to Nigeria for single sweep, including 2,500 wey form part of coordinated network wey dey target Western teenagers.
Yet critics argue say dose numbers merely highlight di scale of di problem.
"Dem pull am down for one day for PR stunt while children still dey attacked?" Brandon ask, "or, if dem pull am down for one day, why dem neva do anytin since?''
One tok-tok pesin for Meta say di suggestion say e go eradicate sextortion if e only choose to, na "simply untrue". Dem say di company bin work aggressively to fight am by disrupting networks of scammers and support law enforcement.
"We get around 40,000 pipo wey dey work on safety and security globally, wit ova $30bn wey dem invest for dis area ova di last decade," di tok-tok pesin tok,"including by automatically placing teens for di strictest message settings and letting dem know wen dem dey chat wit pesin wey fit dey for different kontri."
Di grieving parents doubt dey echoed inside Meta sef. Arturo Bejar, former engineering director-turned-whistleblower, testify to US Congress for 2023 say di company leadership don ignore repeated warnings about di dangers wey dey face children on dia platforms.
E tell me say di systems wey dey designed to protect young users dey fundamentally inadequate.
''Dem keep demonstrating say dem no sabi wen kids dey for danger, dem no want pipo to know wen kids dey for danger... becos dem no want deal wit am," e tok.
Meta say many of measures wey Mr Bejar suggest dey alreadi in place. E add say dem don introduce teen accounts wit built-in protections on Instagram last year, wey mean say dem only fit get message from pipo wey dem alreadi dey connected to.
Di tok-tok pesin say wen somtin dey reported as spam, di company go take action if e no follow community standards.
Referring to di case of Evan Boettler, Snapchat say dia "deepest sympathies dey wit di Boettler family".
"We get zero tolerance for sextortion on Snapchat. If we discover dis activity, we take quick action to remove di account and we support law enforcement efforts to help bring offenders to justice."
Di Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) get tool wey under-18s worldwide fit use to confidentially report nude or sexual images of demsef, remove dem from di internet and prevent dem make dem no reupload am.
And if di content neva appear online, di charity fit still create digital fingerprint for di picture wey go prevent am make dem no share am online - although dem dey unable to remove am from encrypted networks like WhatsApp or if dem don save am on pesin phone or computer.
For di UK, di charity dey work wit Childline, wey dey offer di tool through dia "Report Remove" service, wey also give di child di option to speak to one of dia counsellors.
Di IWF tell us for di first eight months of 2025 say e don take action ova 723 reports from Report Remove - 224 of dose dey feature sexual extortion.
Meanwhile, for Evan parents, di barriers to justice remain insurmountable. Wit Meta and Snapchat wey no dey able to release di data, all hope to find Evan scammer rely on GloWorld, Nigerian service provider wey di IP address dey linked to.
Afta months of trying, I finally receive update. Even though GloWorld suppose keep user information for two years, e fail to do so. Di trail don go cold.
Wen I call di Boettlers, dem dey gracious and tank me for my efforts. Brad bin previously describe dia son as "amazing kid".
"E no dey hard to parent am becos e be such good human," e tok. "I bin no even put into words how much I love am."
[SRC] https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c3064yqlye7o
