Blackmailer ‘made millions threatening to release explicit images of boys’
An alleged ‘sextortion’ blackmailer accused of making up to £2 million by threatening to publish explicit images of boys obtained by deception will appear in court this month.
Olamide Shanu, 33, is accused of behind behind an international blackmail scam where he posed as a girls to persuade teenagers to send him sexual photos and video of themselves.
He allegedly then told them he would send them to their family, friends, and wider media if they did not pay him money, the Times reports.
His cryptocurrency account is claimed to have received over 6,000 payments over three years which would suggest he had hundreds of victims.
He will appear in court at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on May 28 after an extradition request was received from the United States.
Shanu, a Nigerian who was arrested in Surrey late last year, is wanted on charges including conspiracy to cyberstalk, interstate communications with intent to commit extortion and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the paper reported.
Among the allegations against him are that one alleged victim paid him £240 a week under a payment plan until he had given him almost £8,000.
The US Secret Service alleges he worked with other conspirators to dupe victims using stolen online accounts and fake photos via Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media sites.
It is alleged that two American boys were targeted on Snapchat by a user claiming to be called ‘Chloe’ using an account stolen from a real 16-year-old girl.
They both paid money via Bitcoin to a Binance account opened using an image of Shanu’s passport as proof of ID, it was claimed.
It comes after teachers across the UK were sent an unprecedented alert about so-called sextortion scams targeting pupils.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) issued the warning, highlighting the ‘devastating’ impact the scams can have.
A large proportion of victims were boys aged between 14 and 18.
The IWF Hotline investigated 191 reports in the first half of last year, compared with only 30 in the 12 months before.
The NCA warned that at least three children have ended their lives as a result.
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