Nigerians arrested over Australian teenager’s ‘sextortion’ death

Australian police announced on Monday that two men have been apprehended in Nigeria for allegedly attempting to extort an Australian teenager by threatening to distribute compromising photos of him online.According to detectives, the teenager tragically took his own life after being targeted by the suspects in what authorities describe as a “sextortion” scheme.The suspects, who had engaged in online conversations with the teenager, demanded payment of Aus$500 (US$330) under the threat of releasing personal photos of the boy, as per Australian police reports.”Sextortion,” a form of cybercrime on the rise, typically involves scammers posing as online love interests to coax victims into sending explicit images, which are then used as leverage for extortion.Collaborating with law enforcement agencies in South Africa and Nigeria, Australian police successfully traced the two suspects to a Nigerian slum.Authorities highlighted that under Nigerian jurisdiction, local law enforcement retains the authority to prosecute for crimes committed against Australians.Helen Schneider, commander of the Australian Federal Police, emphasized the global nature of child sextortion crimes, underscoring the importance of cross-border cooperation in combating such offenses.