Coventry mum’s warning after son targeted in sextortion scam

A woman has called on fellow parents to be on the alert after her teenage son was targeted by a sextortion scam.

Jo – not her real name – said her son thought his “life was over” after he was targeted by criminals in 2023, aged 15.

An online profile threatened to spread fake explicit images to his friends and family if he did not immediately send them money.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said cases like Jo’s were becoming increasingly common, particularly among boys aged between 15 and 17.

Jo, from Coventry, said she first knew of the scam when her son “came down the stairs screaming” that a social media account had created fake images of him.

“He threw the phone at me and just said make it stop,” she said.

“He just said my life is over – they want me to pay money mum.

“They seem to know a little bit about him and the next thing you know his face had been imposed on some explicit images and they were blackmailing him with it.”

Jo said the images had been sent to her son within 20 minutes of him accepting their follow request on social media.

“It was instant,” she said.

“The phone was constantly going with message after message – they were bombarding him.”

Jo contacted West Midlands Police, which investigated the incident, but detectives said they could not trace where the messages were coming from, despite suspecting it was from Nigeria.

She relived the experience when she watched the Channel 4 documentary Hunting My Sextortion Scammer, in which Jordan Stephens, from band Rizzle Kicks, tracked down and attempted to confront those behind a similar scam.

“The documentary brought back so many memories of those messages on his phone,” she said.

“It makes you realize how fragile it could have been, the situation could have been very different to how ours ended.”

Jo is calling on parents to have tough conversations with their children about online safety.

The NCA has also issued a warning after an increase in reports of sextortion in the UK, with data showing in the first five months of 2024, police forces across the UK received 117 reports of sextortion a month from under 18s.

Research commissioned by the law enforcement agency found that 74% of boys questioned did not fully understand what sextortion was and only 12% admitted they may be at risk.

“I think our story is a warning to parents to have this talk with your children,” Jo said.

“When you put a phone in your child’s hand it’s scary and I just think those safety conversations are important.”

Alex Murray, NCA Director of threat leadership, said sextortion was an “unimaginably cruel” crime.

“A lot of victims feel responsible for the situation they find themselves in,” he said.

“But we need them to know this is absolutely not the case – you are not to blame and help and support is available.”