Qld mum opens up about catfish scam horror that ripped her family apart

A brave Queensland mother has revealed how an online “sextortion” scam destroyed her family and saw her son jailed after he killed an innocent woman in a tragic crash.

The crash that killed Queensland grandmother Karen Malcolm.

• How to protect your child from sextortion

On the evening of August 9, 2022, 17-year-old Jack wasn’t his normal happy self when he stopped by his parent’s room as he left the family’s Sunshine Coast home.

“I’m going for a drive, Mum, I’ll be back after,” he said.

Only 15 minutes later, his mum Mary’s phone rang and an unfamiliar voice came on the line: “I’ve got Jack here, he’s been in an accident, you need to get down here.”

The next day as she sat beside his hospital bed, relieved that he had suffered no more than a broken foot, Jack made a confession that Mary never saw coming.

In the days before the crash, he had exchanged naked photographs on Snapchat with a girl named Amber Rose.

He had never met Amber before but they had connected on the popular social media platform.

She earned his trust before convincing him to send intimate photos of himself.

But Amber didn’t exist.

After sending the explicit photos, the person on the other end began extorting Jack, threatening to make the images public if he did not transfer $900 to them.

Desperate, the former private school student who was about to enter the final year of his trade apprenticeship transferred the scammer $500.

When that wasn’t enough, he borrowed another $200 from a friend.

But the threats didn’t stop, and the scammer sent an image to one of Jack’s friends.

Distraught and embarrassed, Jack begged and pleaded, then threatened to take his own life, finally telling his tormentor “hope you sleep better knowing you killed me”

.

Jack and Mary during happier times.

After saying goodbye to his mum, he jumped in his Toyota LandCruiser and drove head-on into oncoming traffic at more than 100km/h.

The next day, lying in his hospital bed, Jack repeatedly asked about the crash – “is everyone OK?”, “are you sure no one is hurt?”.

After his gut-wrenching confession about Amber Rose, Mary then steeled herself to deliver even more harrowing news.

An innocent 63-year-old grandmother Karen Malcolm, who had been on her way home from work, had been killed instantly when Jack crossed into her lane, ploughing into her car.

“He just burst into tears,” Mary said.

“He kept saying ‘what, what, somebody died’ and ‘oh my God, I took someone’s life, I can’t believe this’.

“It was horrible.”

On Wednesday, the now-19-year-old Jack was ordered to serve 18 months of a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to Ms Malcolm’s manslaughter.

The court heard that Jack had been so distressed by the sextortion plot that he chose to end his life.

Sixty-three-year-old grandmother Karen Malcolm was killed in the crash. Picture: Contributed

A psychologist’s report said that, at the time of the crash, Jack was experiencing an acute stress reaction and his intense distress had caused him to dissociate.

Mary doesn’t believe her son wanted to die.

“He was in a frenzy and so distraught,” she said.

“I feel like he was out of his mind at the time, I’ve asked him so many times and he says ‘Mum, I promise I wasn’t trying to kill myself’.”

Before prison, before the crash, and before the extortion scam, Jack had been a normal teenager.

The oldest of four children, he attended private school before starting an apprenticeship. He played and refereed rugby league and had a solid friendship group.

“He was just a great kid, the perfect child really,” Mary said.

It was his dream to finish his apprenticeship with his dad before becoming a police officer.

“We had a really open relationship and that’s why I’m so confused,” Mary said.

“I think because he was such a good boy, he was ashamed and didn’t want anyone to know. That’s why he didn’t come to me.”

Now 19, Jack was ordered to serve 18 months of a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to Ms Malcolm’s manslaughter.

But Jack didn’t make that mistake twice. A week after the fatal crash, the scammers resumed their attempts to extort money from him.

“He came straight to my room and said ‘they’re doing it again’, and showed me the messages,” Mary said.

“They said to hurry up and send the money or his pictures were going online, and then they sent through the photos that they were going to put up.”

As a family, they called the police, who followed the money trail, but instead of leading to the scammer, it led to another victim.

“They traced the money transfer to a man in Melbourne. But it turned out he was being blackmailed to receive the money and then pass it on to the scammers as Apple (gift) cards,” she said.

“The person extorting Jack was in Nigeria or something.

“They threatened to do the same thing to the man in Melbourne if he didn’t pass on the money.

“So there’s a lot of people out there who are really embarrassed and scared going through the same thing and they won’t tell anybody because they are so ashamed.”

As the family banded together while Jack prepared to face the manslaughter charge in court, they were dealt another blow when his father died last year.

The pair had been at work together when Jack’s dad began to feel unwell, collapsing in front of him as they arrived at the hospital emergency department.

Fit and healthy, the young father died of a heart attack, leaving behind his wife and four kids.

“The thing that hurts me the most is Jack said he feels like his dad’s death was an eye for an eye,” Mary said.

“He said ‘God took my dad away from me because I took someone’s life’.

“He feels like he’s being punished. His dad was his best friend. It’s heartbreaking.”

The scene of the tragic fatal crash on the Sunshine Coast.

Determined to protect his mum from reliving the tragedy, Jack asked Mary not to come to court to see him sentenced to jail this week.

When she went to collect his belongings, he had left a handwritten note with important information, signed off with an “I love you” and a love heart.

“That’s the sort of boy he is,” Mary said. “I just can’t believe he’s in jail.”

With the prison sentence ending Jack’s dream of becoming a police officer, Mary said she hoped his time in custody could become a positive stepping stone.

“I hope he learns a lot and he has a lot of time to reflect and learn and make himself a better person and comes out and has a productive and successful life,” she said.

“He wants to educate young people and talk to school kids about what he’s been through to stop it happening to other people.”

Mary said she hoped her family’s tragedy would help others in the future.

“Absolutely, make sure you’re aware of what your kids are doing online,” she said.

“I’d definitely encourage parents to talk to their kids about these things.

“And kids, if you feel threatened or unsafe, talk to your parents or talk to an adult, report what is happening. You don’t have to go through anything on your own.”

Names have been changed due to legislation that prevents juveniles charged with a criminal offence from being identified.

If this story has affected you:

• Lifeline: 13 11 14

• Mental Health Access Line: 1300 642 255

• Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

• 13YARN: 13 92 76

• Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636