CORNWALL LIVE
A teenage boy from south east Cornwall is scared to come out of his room and go to school after his naivety was exploited by a fraudster in Africa. The 14-year-old became involved in a conversation with who he believed to be a 17-year-old girl, but when the conversation turned sexual it became apparent the ‘girl’ wasn’t who she claimed to be.
The boy’s mum wants to warn others and says that if speaking out means just one boy won’t become another victim of the scam, it’ll be worth doing.
She said: “He came out of the bathroom. At first he was quiet but then he was calling for me. He was crying and at first couldn’t tell me what was wrong.
“Being a mum I started thinking the worst. I took his phone and he explained he met a girl on Instagram. They started texting on Saturday morning and in the two days it went quite quickly. Things went from Instagram to Snapchat.
“He explained to me that they sent nudes and asked him to send one back and he did. They were appealing to his naivety and basically coerced him. He’s 14 and impressionable. At that age they are going to start experimenting with these things.”
Soon demands for £200 followed, with a threat the pictures would be leaked to social media if the money wasn’t paid.
The mum added: “I started texting this person saying this is his mum and it was quite apparent it was a man and not a woman. I realised the texts weren’t coming from a UK number and went on Google and it said the number was from Ghana or Nigeria.
“He feels humiliated and is psychologically damaged. He’s so scared the pictures are going to be sent around. As a mum all I can do is be there for him. He hasn’t gone to school this week and all he’s done is sleep. I’m letting him sleep as while he’s asleep he isn’t worrying.
