Teen dies 3 hours after being targeted in alleged ‘sextortion’ scam

A 15-year-old’s normal day turned fatal when he was bombarded with 120 messages in minutes, demanding money for explicit photos.

An American 15-year-old was having a “perfectly normal day” before he received a text message trying to extort him – resulting in him tragically taking his own life.

Bryce Tate, from West Virginia, came home from the gym on November 6 and scarfed down a plate of tacos his mum had made.

He went outside to play basketball and at 4.37pm he got a text from a strange number. Three hours later he was found dead in his dad’s man cave, theNew York Postreported.

“They say it’s suicide, but in my book it is 100 per cent murder,” Bryce’s father, Adam Tate, told the publication.

“They’re godless demons, in my opinion. Just cowards, awful individuals, worse than criminals.”

Bryce was the latest victim of a vicious sextortion scheme, his dad said, one targeting teen boys, an issue police warn is surging.

A representative for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a US child protection agency, said the group tracked over 33,000 reports of child sextortion in 2024 alone — with nearly that number reported in the first six months of this year.

Fifteen-year-old Bryce Tate took his own life on November 6 after being the victim of a sadistic sextortion plot. Picture: Adam Tate

Online scammers scour public social media profiles to learn about a teen, then pose as a flirtatious peer.

“They acted like a local 17-year-old girl. They knew which gym he worked out at, they knew a couple of his best friends and name-dropped them. They knew he played basketball for Nitro High School,” Mr Tate said.

“They built his trust to where he believed that this was truly somebody in this area.”

In another disturbing twist, the photos Bryce received were not AI-generated but most likely of a real girl who was another victim, the New York Post understands.

Scammers then ask for illicit photos in return and, once they have them, extort the victim for money by threatening to show the pics to family and friends.

For Bryce, that sum was $500 (AU$750).

“My son had 30 freaking dollars and he’s like, ‘Sir, I’ll give you my last $30.’ And these cowards wouldn’t take it,” Mr Tate said.

If the target doesn’t have the money to send via untraceable methods like gift cards, cryptocurrency or apps like Cash App or Venmo, the extortionists threaten violence.

In Bryce’s alleged case, outright encourage the victim to kill himself “because your life is already over”.

Bryce’s case bears the hallmarks of being perpetrated by the notorious international child exploitation ring known as 764, which has tentacles in Russia, Europe, Africa and the US. Picture: Adam Tate

In the last 20 minutes of Bryce’s life he was messaged 120 times, a tactic to keep teens feverishly engaged — creating a “tunnel vision to where you can’t set your phone down,” Mr Tate said authorities told him.

“The FBI has seen a huge increase in the number of sextortion cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online,” Bradford Arick, FBI public affairs specialist, told the New YorkPost.

In 2022, Mississippi high school football star Walker Montgomery, 16, died by suicide in a story nearly identical to Bryce’s, after he was contacted on Instagram by a “girl” who turned out to be a Nigerian scam artist.

That same year, 16-year-old Waylon Scheffer of Montana, 17-year-old Ryan Last of California; and 17-year-old Jordan DeMay of Michigan all took their lives after being contacted by East Africa-based scammers who had proxies operating in the US.

There have so far been no arrests in connection to Montgomery or Sheffer’s deaths.

Bryce with his dad Adam and mum Amanda. Picture: Adam Tate

Bryce took his own life three hours after he got the first text. Picture: Adam Tate

Jonathan Kassi, 25, was sentenced to 18 months for his role in Last’s death; authorities say the Californian was working as a money mule for Ivory Coast scammers.

Two Nigerian brothers — Samuel and Samson Ogoshi, 22 and 20 — were extradited to the US and sentenced to 17 years for their role in running the sextortion ring connected to DeMay’s death.

Children as young as 11 have fallen victim to the scheme, according to the FBI.

While the FBI won’t comment on specifics in Bryce’s case, citing the ongoing investigation, the troubling nature of the communications he received are emblematic of the teen sextortion ring known as 764, which has tentacles in Russia, Europe, Africa and the US.

On December 3, five US-based members of 764 offshoot Greggy’s Cult — including one Navy sailor — were indicted by the Department of Justice.

‘The FBI has seen a huge increase in the number of sextortion cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online,’ the FBI said. Picture: Adam Tate

Last month the FBI described 764 as a “violent online network that seeks to destroy civilised society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors”.

Pam Bondi, the US Attorney-General, called the network “one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered — a network built on terror, abuse and the deliberate targeting of children”.

Earlier this year, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Rebecca Weiner, the department’s deputy commissioner for intel and counter-terrorism, warned about the online cult in an op-ed published by the New York Post.

“It’s the stuff of nightmares, and dismantling these virulent networks is now a top national security priority across the United States and Europe,” they wrote.

“But most parents have no idea they exist.”

That was the case for the Tates, who were bewildered as to what could have driven their “extremely positive and uplifting” son to take his own life.

Bryce's dad said his son was encouraged to take his life. Picture: Adam Tate

They had never heard of sextortion until local police did a forensics analysis on Bryce’s phone and referred the case to the FBI.

Bryce, who loved weightlifting, was described by friends and family as a good student with an infectious smile and a Christian fellowship youth leader who helped classmates through hard times.

“I had the utmost respect for my son,” his father said.

“He was hilarious. Funny kid, goofy. If you were around him and you were having a bad day, you could not help but get in a better mood and smile and laugh and just enjoy that light that he was.”

Sergeant. Jeremy Burns from the local sheriff’s office was the first investigator in Bryce’s case.

He said the first defence is for kids to have their social media on lockdown from strangers who can use the information to concoct a convincing narrative of peer association.

“Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok, make sure it’s set so that you have to authorise who follows you. Don’t leave it [public]. Don’t ever send any sexual pictures. Just don’t do it,” he said.

“Don’t send photos to anybody you don’t know.”

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Teen dies 3 hours after being targeted in alleged ‘sextortion’ scam