00:00An atrocious crime called sextortion is on the rise.
00:04Teenage boys are the major target, particularly American,
00:07and an international crime syndicate is thought to be behind it.
00:10A group called 764, which has branches in Russia, Europe, Africa, and the United States,
00:16is what Attorney General Pam Bondi calls, quote,
00:19one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered.
00:25The group uses social media to gather information about a victim,
00:28their interests, places they frequent, even their friends.
00:31Then they text them, posing as, say, a local and flirtatious young woman.
00:36They spend time gaining the trust of the victims
00:38before convincing them to send inappropriate pictures of themselves,
00:41and that becomes blackmail material.
00:44And here is where it turns absolutely just heinous.
00:48They threaten to send the pictures to family and friends if they don't pay them off.
00:53The sextortion scam recently led to the suicide of a 15-year-old,
00:58Bryce Tate.
00:59But his parents say that while he pulled the trigger to end his life,
01:02it was the criminals who effectively murdered him.
01:05After getting Tate to send them explicit pictures,
01:08they demanded $500 from the teen.
01:11All he could offer them was $30.
01:13It was all the money he had.
01:14But the criminals sent a barrage of 120 messages
01:18to keep him engaged before suggesting he kill himself
01:22because, as they said, his life was already over.
01:24And unfortunately, that is just what happened.
01:28So if you have a teenager, go.
01:30Have an uncomfortable conversation with them.
01:32It may save their life.
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