Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested 22 Nigerians allegedly involved in financially driven sextortion schemes that have led to an increase in teenage suicides across the United States.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a statement published on its official website, FBI revealed that the arrests were made during a landmark global operation carried out in partnership with law enforcement agencies in Nigeria, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
The Bureau stated that about half of the arrested suspects were directly connected to victims who died by suicide. It also reported a 30 percent surge in sextortion-related tips between October 2024 and March 2025 compared to the previous year.
The statement reads, “According to the FBl’s Internet Crime Complaint Center or IC3, there were over 54,000 victims in 2024, up from 34,000 in 2023.”
“Over the last two years, there have been nearly $65 million in financial losses due to this crime.”
“Most of the victims are boys aged 14 to 17, and more than 20 minor victims have died by suicide.”
“Given the alarming rise and similarities of these cases, the FBI opened investigations across the country with the goal of bringing answers and closure to grieving American families.”
“Information gathered by the FBl’s Child
Exploitation Operational Unit (CEOU) allowed the FBI to work collaboratively with all 55 of our field offices to identify nearly 3,000 victims of financially motivated sextortion.”
“It was during these investigative steps that the commonality of perpetrators residing in Nigeria began to grow and paint a larger, more international scope of this crime.”
The Nigerian suspects, apprehended under “Operation Artemis,” allegedly posed as young women on social media to build trust with teenage boys before coercing them into sending explicit content.
The suspects would then extort the victims by demanding payments via gift cards, mobile apps, or cryptocurrency, threatening to release the content publicly. In many cases, the extortion continued even after payments were made.
The statement added, “As a result of Operation Artemis, a Nigerian man was extradited to the U.S. in January and charged with causing the death of a South Carolina teenager who took his own life after being extorted by the suspect posing as a woman.”
“Additionally, two men were extradited from Nigeria to the United States last year to face charges related to the sextortion and death of a young man in Pennsylvania. These subjects will now be held accountable in the American justice system, with more subjects still awaiting extradition in Nigeria.”
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that Operation Artemis exemplifies the Bureau’s commitment to protecting vulnerable children and holding criminals accountable, regardless of their location.
He emphasised the importance of international cooperation in fighting this rising threat and encouraged parents and guardians to continue educating their children about online safety.
