BBC News Briefing

12 September, 2024

Jules Darmanin

Hello. Today we're looking into the boom in sextortion scams and the challenges they pose to authorities. Jayne McCubbin spoke to a victim with a learning disability and was able to reach for help only after he lost £3,000. If you're a sports better (or if you stay away from it), you'll be interested in the tell-all interview of Moses Swaibu, a football player who was convicted of match-fixing. We're also reporting on Peru, Belarus, and hats.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Sextortion boom leaves victims isolated

Blackmail offences have seen an 18-fold rise in the UK over the past decade. Credit: Getty Images

Sextortion, or the act of deceiving victims to blackmail them with sexual pictures they sent over messaging apps, is booming. "This crime has really exploded on Instagram and Snapchat over these past two years," intelligence professional Paul Raffile told my colleagues earlier this year. It is a globalised crime, with a growing number of adults and children falling prey to gangs mainly based in Nigeria. Last week, two men became the first Nigerians extradited to the US to be convicted over a sextortion scam. They had sent Jordan DeMay, 17, an Instagram request, pretending to be a pretty girl his age. Once they received explicit images, they blackmailed him. Six hours later, the schoolboy took his own life. In the UK, "John", who has a learning disability, was able to get help and avoid the worst. “I thought my life was over," he tells Jayne McCubbin now. Her investigation sheds light on the sheer scale of the issue.

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In case you missed it: A BBC investigation in May found "sextortion guides" for sale on social media, helping criminals to carry scams on teenagers.

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A cyber-scam hub: Romance scams also involve deception, often to obtain money out of trust. Many are operated from English-speaking countries in West Africa. Hannah Ajala explains why.

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Sex education: Cyber-crime and sextortion are progressively included in the curriculum in Northern Irish schools, education correspondent Robbie Meredith writes.

WORLD HEADLINES

Alberto Fujimori: The controversial former Peruvian president has died aged 86. His death, shortly after his release from prison where he was held for human rights abuse, leaves a divisive legacy.

Gaza strip: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says six of its employees have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a school it runs in central Gaza.

Spaceman, spacewoman: Billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman and fellow private astronaut Sarah Gillis are due to carry out the first-ever privately funded spacewalk. Follow it live here.

In Nashville: Rock legend Jon Bon Jovi has been praised by police for helping a woman in distress who was on the ledge of a bridge. Authorities have shared footage of the scene.

Hold on to your hat: President Joe Biden briefly wore a red Trump campaign baseball cap at an event commemorating the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It was a gesture of unity, the White House said.

AT THE SCENE

Warsaw, Poland

Belarus pardons offer families hope

Seventy-eight political detainees have been given an amnesty so far in recent weeks by Belarusian authorities, according to human rights organisation Viasna. Many have serious medial conditions. This uptick in releases offers hope to families waiting for their loved ones to be freed.

Sarah Rainsford, Eastern Europe correspondent

A classical flautist, Maria Kolesnikova helped lead the peaceful street protests in 2020, becoming hugely popular for her seemingly boundless energy and optimism. She was later sentenced to 11 years for "conspiring to seize power". The conditions in which Maria is being held are "killing her slowly", her sister Tatsiana Khomich warns. "I believe this is a moment when [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko started to send signals to the Western world that he will be ready, in the future, to negotiate on releases," she says.

Keep reading

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

A match-fixer tells it all

Moses Swaibu wearing a Lincoln City shirt.

Moses Swaibu purposefully lost games at the request of match-fixers. Credit: Getty Images

Although Moses Swaibu was not the flashiest young football player, as a teenager in the early 2000s he had been promised a lucrative professional career. But he quickly fell down the ladder of English football, where the mountains of cash offered my match-fixers could appear more enticing than winning. Swaibu shares his journey from football pitches to prison cells.

Read the story

Jamie Babbit has long brown hair and wears a black leather jacket and scarf over a white top. She is pictured with arms folded against a pink-and-white animated backdrop depicting themes from But I'm a Cheerleader

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

'I wanted a gay Clueless'

Jamie Babbit on how lesbian comedy But I'm a Cheerleader became a cult classic.

Read now

And finally...

Gorillas may hold clues to the medicines of the future - thanks to their habit of eating plants that are high in antioxidants and antimicrobials. Researchers in Gabon studying tropical plants eaten by wild gorillas - and used also by local human healers - identified four with medicinal effects. One showed promise in fighting superbugs. Helen Briggs has the details.

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– Jules

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