Sextortion scam and personal stresses contributed to teenager’s death, inquest finds
Eighteen-year-old Cai Rhys Davies died after attempting to take his own life on the day sextortion scammers demanded money to stop them sharing intimate images. An inquest concluded that personal stresses and the scam more than minimally contributed to his death; the coroner has asked the UK and Welsh governments whether the public knows enough about such crimes.
Davies had sent pictures and videos to someone posing as a romantic interest on a fake dating site. The blackmailers, whom investigators traced to the Ivory Coast, threatened to share the images with his friends and family and on YouTube; at least one Facebook friend received them. The coroner said Davies was bombarded with calls and messages, while the Government cited recent online safety measures and said it was committed to protecting young people.
In short
- Sextortion scammers threatened to share Cai Rhys Davies’s intimate images.
- The coroner said the scam contributed to his death.
- She asked governments whether the public knows enough about sextortion.
Explained simply
Sextortion is a form of blackmail in which someone threatens to share intimate images unless the victim pays or does something else. Scammers may pose as romantic interests online to persuade people to send pictures or videos, then use the threat of exposure to put pressure on them.
In this case, Cai Rhys Davies was 18 and had shared images with someone he met on a fake dating site. The blackmailers threatened to send them to people he knew and post them online; at least one Facebook friend received images.
The case has drawn attention to the distress such threats can cause and to how well young people and families understand the crime. UK and Welsh authorities have roles in informing the public and protecting young people online.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Teenager was ‘bombarded with video calls and messages’ from sextortion scam blackmailer before taking his own life, coroner says – as government vows it is ‘committed’ to making online world safer for children”.