22 Nigerians have been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on charges of planning several sextortion scams.
Since 2021, the FBI reports that over 20 young males in the US have committed themselves as a result of sextortion schemes.
Operation Artemis, a historic joint operation involving law enforcement agencies from Nigeria, the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, was responsible for the most recent arrests.
After nearly two years of investigating online sextortion rackets that prey on adolescent boys on social media, the suspects were captured.
This was disclosed in a statement published on the FBI’s website.
The FBI noted that perpetrators posed as young women online, luring victims into sharing sexually explicit images.
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It added that once the perpetrators obtained the images, they used them to extort money from the victims under threat of public exposure.
“In many cases, even after payments were made, the threats continued—pushing some victims to tragic ends,” the statement added.
Speaking on the development, Special Agent Karen R., who coordinated the Bureau’s involvement, said: “This is not a victimless crime. These are real children suffering real consequences.”
