A 16-year-old American schoolboy, identified as Evan Boettler from Missouri, has tragically taken his own life after falling victim to a Snapchat sextortion scam traced to Lagos, Nigeria.
According to the BBC, Evan had been chatting with a user under the name JennyTee60, who convinced him to share explicit photos.
Moments later, the fake account turned predatory, threatening to release the images unless Evan paid money.
One of the blackmail messages read: “I have your nudes and everything needed to ruin your life.”
Within 90 minutes of receiving the threat, the teenager ended his life.
Evan’s heartbroken parents, Kari and Brad Boettler, described their son as a “bright, funny young man who loved fishing, hunting, and sports.”
“When they told us that night he was gone, it didn’t make sense,” Kari said tearfully. “I don’t understand how this could happen to our family.”
Investigators traced the Snapchat account to an IP address in Lagos, uncovering a web of online scammers known locally as Yahoo Boys.
These networks, often referred to as Hustle Kingdoms, are rooms of young men operating romance and sextortion scams targeting Western teens.
One scammer, identified only as Ola, explained how they create fake female accounts using name generators.
“You open a female account using fake names from fake generators,” he said.
When asked about remorse, he replied, “I don’t feel bad because I need the money.”
Ola admitted that young Western boys are prime targets.
“Because their sex drive is high, and they fear their pictures being shared with parents and friends,” he said.
Authorities discovered that some scammers now consult cyber-spiritualists, who allegedly perform rituals to protect them from arrest or make victims more vulnerable to manipulation.
The FBI reports that sextortion cases in the U.S. have more than doubled, with 55,000 reports in 2024 alone.
Similarly, the UK’s National Crime Agency receives around 110 such reports each month.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it has over 40,000 employees working on safety and has invested $30 billion in online protection over the past decade.
Snapchat also condemned the act, saying, “We have zero tolerance for sextortion and cooperate with law enforcement to bring offenders to justice.”
However, the investigation into Evan’s case has stalled after Nigerian telecom provider GloWorld reportedly failed to retain the data linked to the scammer’s IP address.
Nearly two years later, Evan’s grieving parents remain determined to seek justice.
“It still doesn’t make sense,” Kari repeated. “We just want this to stop happening to other families.”
Evan’s tragic death underscores the global rise of online sextortion and the urgent need for stronger international collaboration to track and punish cybercriminals.
Post Views: 50
