The FBI has announced the arrest of 22 Nigerian nationals allegedly involved in a large-scale, financially motivated sextortion scheme, which authorities say has been linked to more than 20 teenage suicides across the United States since 2021. The agency detailed the arrests in a statement published on its website, emphasizing the devastating toll the crimes have taken on young victims and their families.
The arrests, which were made public on Thursday, April 24, were the result of an unprecedented global operation, codenamed Operation Artemis. This effort marked a historic collaboration between the FBI and law enforcement agencies in Canada, Australia, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom, aimed at dismantling international sextortion networks preying on vulnerable minors.
According to the FBI, Operation Artemis was launched nearly two years ago in response to a surge in reports of teenage boys being manipulated into sending sexually explicit photos over the internet. Once compromised, the victims were subjected to relentless extortion, with perpetrators threatening to expose the explicit material unless the teenagers paid money�often under the promise that payment would end the ordeal.
�As a result of Operation Artemis, FBI investigations led to the arrest of 22 Nigerian subjects, with at least one arrest directly tied to an American victim who tragically took their own life,� the FBI said in its statement.
Authorities explained that the typical sextortion scheme begins with perpetrators posing online as young women to gain the trust of boys and coax them into sharing nude or explicit images. Once the victim complies, the perpetrators immediately begin demanding money, leveraging the fear of exposure. Even after victims pay, however, the demands often continue and the threats intensify, trapping the young people in a cycle of fear and desperation.
�Analysis of victims� phones and social media accounts revealed heartbreaking narratives of young kids enduring panicked negotiations in desperate attempts to preserve their privacy and avoid shame,� the FBI added, noting the profound emotional trauma inflicted on these teenagers.
The FBI�s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) documented a dramatic rise in sextortion cases, with over 34,000 victims reported in 2023�a number that climbed to more than 54,000 the following year. Financial losses from these schemes have been staggering, with victims collectively losing nearly $65 million over the past two years alone.
Between October 2021 and March 2023, the FBI, along with Homeland Security Investigations and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), recorded over 12,600 minor victims�predominantly boys�who were targeted by sextortionists. The NCMEC also reported a sharp spike in financial sextortion cases, with 26,718 incidents logged in 2023, up from 10,731 the previous year. Meanwhile, in Australia, the Australian Federal Police revealed that they were handling approximately 300 new sextortion cases every month, underscoring the global nature of the threat.
As part of the operation, FBI Special Agent Matthew Crowley traveled to Nigeria to personally interview the suspects and gain insight into their criminal motivations. Crowley reported that many of the individuals viewed sextortion as an easy and highly profitable scam compared to other types of fraud, such as romance scams or business email compromise schemes.
�One subject told me, �It�s easy money. If I don�t get any traction with one victim, I just move on to the next,�� Crowley recounted. She further explained, �It makes sense why they would choose this method: they could target up to 40 victims in a single day, working multiple conversations at once. Even if only three victims paid, and each paid $200, that�s still $600 in a day.�
The devastating human cost of these crimes was poignantly highlighted by the testimony of an American father whose 16-year-old son died by suicide in 2023 after being subjected to sextortion threats.
�Everything that he loved�his dreams for college, his crushes, his friendships�was threatened all at once,� the grieving father said. �Imagine someone walking into your home in the middle of the night and shooting your son. What these predators did was even worse: they scared him so badly that he took his own life.�
The FBI has reiterated its commitment to continuing its fight against sextortion networks and has urged parents, educators, and teens to educate themselves about the dangers of online exploitation. Officials stressed the importance of victims coming forward without fear of shame, emphasizing that help is available and that no one should face such trauma alone.
