‘Sextortion' ring targeting thousands of minors worldwide was just disrupted by the FBI, officials say
It was news that Pauline Stuart thought might never come: The man believed to be responsible for the death of her teenage son years earlier is finally behind bars.
'It still seems a little unreal that it happened,' she told CNN on Thursday. 'I kind of believed that it would never happen, but law enforcement never gave up.'
The suspect, Alfred Kassi, was recently arrested in his native country of Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa, more than 7,000 miles away from the Northern California home where Stuart's 17-year-old son, Ryan Last, died by suicide in 2022.
US federal prosecutors say that Kassi and a group of three accomplices were all arrested in Côte d'Ivoire, charged for their alleged 'role in an international 'sextortion' scheme that targeted thousands of victims, including minors, throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy.'
Because Côte d'Ivoire does not extradite its citizens to other countries, Kassi and his alleged accomplices will be prosecuted there under the nation's cybercrime laws, US officials said. CNN is attempting to determine if the four individuals have legal representation.
Sextortion is a scheme where victims, including minors, are deceived into sending online perpetrators explicit images, and then blackmailed in exchange for money or the continued production of additional graphic content.
US law enforcement agencies have seen an explosion in complaints from victims, leading the FBI to ramp up a campaign to warn parents from coast to coast.
Ryan Last received a message on a school night in February 2022 from someone he believed to be a girl.
Within hours, the 17-year-old, straight-A student and Boy Scout had died by suicide.
'Somebody reached out to him pretending to be a girl, and they started a conversation,' Stuart previously told CNN, fighting back tears as she described what happened to her son days after she and Ryan had finished visiting several colleges he was considering attending after high school.
The online conversation quickly grew intimate and then turned criminal.
The scammer – posing as a young girl – sent Ryan a nude photo and then asked Ryan to share an explicit image of himself in return. Immediately after Ryan shared an intimate photo of his own, the cybercriminal demanded $5,000, threatening to make the photo public and send it to Ryan's family and friends.
The San Jose, California, teen told the cybercriminal he could not pay the full amount, and the demand was ultimately lowered to a fraction of the original figure – $150. But after paying the scammers from his college savings, Stuart said, 'They kept demanding more and more and putting lots of continued pressure on him.'
At the time, Stuart knew none of what her son was experiencing. She learned the details after law enforcement investigators reconstructed the events leading up to his death.
She had said goodnight to Ryan at 10 p.m. and described him as her usually happy son. By 2 a.m., he had been scammed and taken his life. Ryan left behind a suicide note describing how embarrassed he was for himself and the family.
'He really, truly thought in that time that there wasn't a way to get by if those pictures were actually posted online,' Stuart said. 'His note showed he was absolutely terrified. No child should have to be that scared.'
In announcing the new arrests in the case, the Justice Department said: 'At the time of his arrest, Kassi allegedly still had the sextortion messages he sent to (Ryan) in February 2022 on his phone.'
Medical experts say there's a key reason why young males are especially vulnerable to sextortion-related scams.
'Teen brains are still developing,' said Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of adolescent medicine at Mass General for Children in Boston. 'So when something catastrophic happens, like a personal picture is released to people online, it's hard for them to look past that moment and understand that in the big scheme of things they'll be able to get through this.'
Hadland said there are steps parents can take to help safeguard their kids from online harm.
'The most important thing that a parent should do with their teen is try to understand what they're doing online,' Hadland said. 'You want to know when they're going online, who they're interacting with, what platforms they're using. Are they being approached by people that they don't know, are they experiencing pressure to share information or photos?'
It's critical, Hadland added, that parents specifically warn teens of scams like sextortion, without shaming them.
'You want to make it clear that they can talk to you if they have done something, or they feel like they've made a mistake,' he said.
Ryan's mom agrees.
'You need to talk to your kids because we need to make them aware of it,' Stuart said.
The FBI was assisted in the investigation by San Jose police, the US State Department and the social media company Meta, which prosecutors said provided 'critical information' that helped identify the suspects.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Associated Press
Nigerian police arrest 22 suspects after deadly bus attack
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Police arrested on Sunday 22 suspects accused of a mob attack that left at least a dozen people killed two days ago in central Nigeria. A passenger bus was mobbed in the Mangu area of the state of Plateau, according to a police statement released Saturday. The passengers traveled from Zaria, in north-western Kaduna state, about 400 kilometers (about 249 miles) from Mangu and were on their way to a wedding when the attack happened Friday night after they lost their way. Police said 21 were rescued from the 'angry mob,' and that some passengers were killed, without providing further details. Nigeria's police, a federal authority, often provide lower death tolls than local authorities and witnesses. Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International said 12 people were instantly killed and 11 others injured in the attack. 'Authorities must ensure that the actual persons behind the horrific attack are brought to justice,' the rights group said in a statement on Saturday. Plateau Gov. Caleb Mutfwang said law enforcement should ensure justice is served and implement measures to prevent any recurrence. Nigeria's north-central region has been plagued by increasing violence, driven by farmer-herder clashes and attacks on communities by armed gangs. At least 100 people were killed in a deadly gun attack on a village in neighboring Benue state about two weeks ago.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Accused in deadly Amqui, Que., truck crash found guilty of murder
Steeve Gagnon has been found guilty of first-degree murder after running down and killing three people with his pickup truck in Amqui, Que., in March 2023. The 12 jurors, who began their deliberations behind closed doors on Friday morning, delivered their verdict at the courthouse in Rimouski, Que., on Saturday evening. Gagnon faced three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder using a motor vehicle. He was found guilty on all five charges. Quebec Superior Court Justice Louis Dionne immediately sentenced Gagnon to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years on the murder charges and 10 years for each of the attempted murder charges, to be served concurrently. Gérald Charest, 65, Jean Lafrenière, 73, and 41-year-old Simon-Guillaume Bourget were killed after being struck by Gagnon's vehicle. It was an emotional scene when families and community members exited the courtroom after the verdict. Some were tearful, while others seemed relieved. Amqui Mayor Sylvie Blanchette told Radio-Canada that people can now turn the page. "It doesn't erase anything," she said in French, "Gérald, Jean and Simon-Guillaume will not be coming back, but at least for the families, it's like a balm on a wound." "The verdict that they were waiting for is the one that came out," she said of the victims' loved ones. Gagnon admitted he was driving the vehicle that struck and killed three people and seriously injured three others, but during his jury trial, the defence argued it was an accident. His lawyer, Hugo Caissy, said Gagnon was driving when he dropped something on the floor of his vehicle, reached down to pick it up, and then lost control of the vehicle and struck the pedestrians. The Crown, however, had argued that Gagnon's actions were premeditated and intentional. The prosecutor pointed to a series of videos Gagnon recorded just two days before the crash, where he described running down children in a schoolyard with his truck. On March 13, 2023, the day of the crash, Gagnon stopped at a schoolyard, but there were no students there because it was a pedagogical day. Six minutes later, the first pedestrian was hit. In order to find Gagnon guilty of first-degree murder, jurors had to conclude that he intentionally ran down those people, and that he planned the crime in advance. "We always believed that that it was first-murder and we were confident in our evidence," Crown prosecutor Simon Blanchette said on Saturday. Meanwhile, the defence has 30 days to appeal the verdict. Caissy wouldn't comment on whether or not it's a path Gagnon will pursue.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bongino announces FBI apprehended 449 child predators, rescued 224 kids in first 3 months as deputy director
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced on Saturday that during his and Director Kash Patel's first three months in office, the agency conducted large-scale sex predator operations, made multiple foreign intelligence and FBI "most wanted" arrests, and aided partners in immigration enforcement. In an X post, Bongino said two child sex predator stings resulted in the rescues of hundreds of children. Operation "Restoring Justice" apprehended 205 child sex predators and 764 purveyors, while rescuing 115 children, he said. A separate venture, Operation "Soteria Shield," resulted in the apprehension of 244 child predators, and 109 children were rescued. "This is just the beginning," Bongino wrote in the post. "If you're preying on children, we are coming for you." Patel's Immigration Push At Fbi Yields 10,000 Arrests Since January He added the FBI was making process on a number of high-profile cases, including the COVID-19 cover-up, the Dobbs leak, and the DNC pipe bomb investigation, and located and apprehended three of the FBI's top ten "most wanted." Read On The Fox News App Bongino said "multiple" foreign intelligence targets engaged in illegal activities were also arrested. Amid the accomplishments, he said numerous personnel changes were made to the leadership of the FBI and the agency reorganized its structure to ensure the mistakes of the past are corrected, penalized and not repeated. Fbi's Top Boss Kash Patel Says Bureau Ran Cover For Hillary But It All Ends Under Trump "We are remaining hyper-vigilant in protecting the Homeland given the current global climate, while we deal with investigations related to the rioting, the Washington DC murders, the Palm Springs bombing, the Boulder attack, the Minnesota murders, and our daily case work," according to Bongino. The FBI also apprehended, imprisoned, and deported thousands of illegal immigrants in coordination with federal partners. More than 700 anti-ICE riot arrests were made in coordination with state and federal agents, as the FBI poured through data in pursuit of more bad actors. Fbi Deputy Director Bongino: Illegal Alien Criminals And Child Predators Are Next In Ongoing Crackdown "We are not done," Bongino said. "We are in the process of identifying and moving in on those who threw rocks at law enforcement officers and damaged property. I told you we would not forget. I wasn't kidding. . . . We told you that the rioting was not going to slow us down. It has not. We are fully engaged." Though the FBI acknowledges there is more work to be done, he said to stay tuned on disclosures and the public corruption fronts. "For those who have been patient with us, thank you," Bongino said. "For those who are out of patience, thank you, too. Believe me, we understand. God bless America, and all those who defend Her."Original article source: Bongino announces FBI apprehended 449 child predators, rescued 224 kids in first 3 months as deputy director
