Date of Event: 26–27 March 2025
Event: Global Anti-Scam Summit London 2025
In a harrowing solo session, Paul Raffile, Senior Intelligence Analyst and Investigator, exposed the disturbing rise of sextortion scams targeting minors and the tragic outcomes that follow. Based on in-depth research and personal engagement with victims’ families, Raffile described how financial sextortion—often carried out by organised cybercriminal networks based in Nigeria—has led to a shocking wave of suicides among teenagers worldwide.
Raffile presented case studies of teens from the US, UK, Canada, and Australia who were manipulated, blackmailed, and driven to take their own lives within hours of being contacted. He showed how these scams follow near-identical scripts, indicating mass-scale industrialised exploitation by “Yahoo boys,” who openly share techniques via social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook.
Beyond highlighting the problem, Raffile pointed to promising progress: increased public awareness, policy changes at platforms such as Meta, safety enhancements on Snapchat, and the takedown of apps like Wizz. He also advocated for more proactive intervention from governments, banks, and tech firms—including improving content moderation, restricting underage access, and disrupting the financial flows enabling these crimes.
The session was a sobering reminder of the urgency of action. As Raffile concluded, sextortion is not only the most dangerous scam—it is the most deadly.
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