Sick Yahoo Boys Sextortion Gang Threatened to ‘End’ My Son’s Life Using Blackmail Script – Your Child Could Be Next

Sick sextortion gang ‘Yahoo Boys’ have been showing off their crime loot on Instagram and have made thousands of dollars from British teenagers.

The conspicuous criminals from Nigeria lure victims into sending explicit images, after which they blackmail them for money.

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At least three British teenagers have committed suicide after being threatened with sextortion. Earlier this month we revealed how the scammers are now using artificial intelligence to enhance their sick methods.

A terrified mother tells anonymously how her son was left terrified after being seduced by a disgusting ‘blackmail’ script, as she writes a stark warning to parents.

My living room door flew open as my 17 year old son ran in with a look of pure fear on his face.

With eyes wide with panic, he begged me for £300, saying: “I’ve blown it. My life is over if I don’t get the money.”

My son was shocked when he told me he had sent a photo of himself to a girl he had ‘met’ on WhatsApp.

She quickly sent it back to him on a split screen, next to a picture of a penis. He kept insisting it wasn’t his.

As I scrolled through the messages, I felt a mixture of fear and anger.

The girl claimed that she had copied all his contact details from Instagram and Snapchat and threatened to send the fake photo to everyone unless he paid.

To prove that she had access to all of his friends, she also sent a screenshot of their accounts.

She chillingly told him that if he didn’t find the money, “he would wish he was dead.”

I never intended to share my son’s story until I read an article in The Sun exposing the methods of the so-called Yahoo Boys.

Then I realized that my son had been a victim a few weeks earlier.

The gangs, made up mainly of Nigerian men, target young Britons with online scams and train each other how to do so.

They meet in hotel rooms they call “hustle kingdoms” to show off the designer clothes they have scammed into acquiring.

One of the biggest scammers on Instagram started out as Yahoo Boy.

Ramon Abbas, who called himself Ray Hushpuppi, flaunted his lavish lifestyle, complete with private jets, expensive cars and luxury clothes and watches, after pulling off a series of cyber heists and making millions.

The Nigerian influencer, who had 2.4 million followers, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Los Angeles in 2022.

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It gives me goosebumps that these men can live such luxurious lives, especially since the suicides of three British teenagers have been linked to this criminal organisation.

That’s why I got goosebumps when I read the story in The Sun.

The investigation had produced a ‘training script’ used by the gangs, which contained almost exactly the same threats as those used against my son.

My son felt he had to pay the money, there was no question about that.

They give me an upset stomach

Mother of victim

I’ve only seen my son in such a state of fear twice, both times through social media, but this time his anger was tempered with clear fear.

Even though I knew he hadn’t shared a banned photo, I still felt sick.

Dating used to mean a chaste kiss or, if you were brave, a spot of flirting. But now, sharing dick pics has become the norm among some young kids.

As I read the message my mind raced with what to do next. How could I fix this for my traumatized boy?

Fight for justice

We needed the help of the law to catch this faceless scum. I felt anger rising at the thought that some boys in the same situation could have committed suicide.

Since my son wanted to pay the money himself, I told him to ask the sender for a PayPal address, hoping the police could track him down.

I called Action Fraud, an organisation that tackles fraud, and they told me to call the police.

The lines were busy and while I waited, my son sat next to me on the bed and texted the perpetrator saying he would transfer the money soon.

I told him to end the call right away because I didn’t think they would bother sharing pictures. I was guessing that if he didn’t fall for their sick scam, they would just move on to the next person.

I then told him that he should delete his social media just to be safe.

Who are the Yahoo Boys?

The Yahoo Boys are gangs of mainly young Nigerians who engage in large-scale online fraud.

They contact their victims by posing as attractive young girls, often using AI images, and trick them into sending prohibited photos.

Experts are calling their methods a “public health epidemic.”

They live a luxurious life with designer clothes, expensive cars and expensive jewelry.

They flaunt mountains of cash on social media and show off Mercedes cars and £1,000 Balenciaga trainers in ‘Hustle Kingdoms’: posh hotel rooms.

They got the nickname Yahoo boys when they first tried to scam people, back in the days of Yahoo accounts.

At least three British teenagers have committed suicide after being threatened with sextortion. And now Nigerian scammers are using artificial intelligence to enhance their sick methods.

Last month, Meta took strict measures against criminal gangs that lure victims into sending explicit images and then blackmail them for money.

More than 63,000 Yahoo Boy accounts have been closed on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The Sun recently revealed the scripts scammers use to teach other people their malicious methods.

According to experts, the most popular guides are readily available on TikTok.

Dan Sexton, Chief Technology Officer at the Internet Watch Foundation, said: “This is a public health epidemic.

“It is a damning indictment of online safety that it is easy enough and profitable enough to target children and young people online. It appears to be a legitimate business strategy for criminals.”

While I stayed on the line to talk to a police officer, he blocked the sender and deleted his WhatsApp.

All trace of the blackmailer was gone and I hung up the phone dejected.

A child, almost in tears, sat next to me and told me that he would never come into contact with the outside world again.

He kept waiting for his friends to message him, but as the minutes passed, nothing happened.

Teenagers targeted

He went to his friend’s house and told me what had happened. I was proud of him.

He wanted his buddy to know what had happened, in case they ever fell into the same trap.

It saddens me that we have to warn our young men and women not to trust anyone they meet online. And it angers me that my son’s life was so undervalued by another human being that they had no regard for his well-being.

My heart cries for the families who have lost someone to this cruel scam, and I hope the evil monsters behind this get what they deserve.

But most of all, I am grateful that my son felt he could come to me for help and that he is still here to continue his somewhat more reserved life.

British victims of the twisted gang

At least three young Britons have committed suicide after falling victim to online scams.

Police in Scotland are believed to be working with Nigerian officers following the suicide of 16-year-old Murray Dowey in December last year.

The teenager from Dunblane, Perthshire, was tricked into sending an intimate image of himself to someone he thought was a young woman, and then the demands for money began.

Murray’s mother Ros told ITV she was haunted by “the panic and fear he must have been in, however long it lasted, whether it was minutes or hours.

“I feel terrible for him, that he was in such a state that he thought suicide was the only thing he could do.

“I just think they are bad… those criminals killed our son.”

Two years ago, 16-year-old Dinal De Alwis committed suicide after a ruthless blackmailer sent him two naked photos of himself via Snapchat, demanding £100.

His father Kaushallya, from Croydon, London, described Dinal as “gifted and gentle” and “the most caring son”.

In 2013, Daniel Perry, 17, from Dunfermline, Fife, jumped from the Forth Road Bridge after sharing compromising Skype messages with someone he thought was an American girl.

After revealing his real identity, Daniel’s blackmailer wrote, “I will make you suffer. Pay up or you’ll be better off dead.”