NASHVILLE, Tenn. – This tale discusses suicide. In case you or anyone you already know is having ideas of suicide, please touch the Suicide & Disaster Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Tamia and Tim Woods’ fact changed into a “nightmare” Nov. 19, 2022, when their 17-year-old, all-American son died by way of suicide after turning into the sufferer of a sextortion scheme on Instagram.
That day, James changed into but every other younger sufferer of the social media crime pattern wherein customers are tricked — and frequently coerced — into sending specific pictures to a scammer who’s posing as anyone else as a way to blackmail the sufferer for cash or extra specific pictures. In lots of instances, the scammers are posing as teenage ladies focused on teenage boys.
“It is frightening. … It was once a nightmare, and we did not somewhat know what’s actually happening or what came about,” Tamia Woods informed Fox Information Virtual at CrimeCon, an annual true-crime conference hosted in Nashville over the weekend.
Tamia and Tim flew to the conference from their place of birth of Streetsboro, Ohio, to teach others at the risks of extortion, a slightly new and swiftly rising crime harming American youngsters and adults.
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Tamia and Tim Jones misplaced their son to suicide Nov. 19, 2022, after he changed into the sufferer of a sextortion try on Instagram. (Circle of relatives handout)
“A large number of instances it could finish with self-harming or [is] deadly in a large number of instances, as neatly,” Tamia stated.
It was once simplest after their son’s demise that Tamia and Tim realized thru police that their son have been a sufferer of a sextortion rip-off. Previous to that dialog, they’d by no means heard of sextortion.
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Sextortion threats James Woods gained. (Circle of relatives handout)
“It was once extraordinarily new on the time. And [police] defined it was once monetary sextortion,” Tamia stated. “And what we have been about to peer was once extraordinarily arduous to learn. We later came upon that James gained 200 messages in 19½ hours. And we did not know who was once subsequent. They have been screenshotting a large number of Jim’s Instagram pals. That they had already began sending footage and threats to his pals, of James. And so we simply needed to act rapid to ensure that it did not occur to any person else.”
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A scammer posing as a lady contacted James on Instagram in November 2022 and exchanged greater than 200 messages with him over a 19-hour duration. (Circle of relatives handout)
A Meta spokesperson stated the corporate has regulations towards sharing or threatening to percentage anyone else’s intimate pictures. It additionally restricts adults over 18 from beginning personal messages with teenagers they don’t seem to be hooked up with on Instagram and Messenger and defaults settings for teenagers underneath 16 to stricter messaging settings.Â
In April, Meta introduced new options to struggle sextortion, together with Nudity Coverage, which shall be became on by way of default for customers underneath 18, will blur nude photographs despatched thru direct messages (DMs) at the app and can recommended customers with messages when the app detects nudity in a consumer’s DMs. Moreover, customers gets “guidelines” once they ship or obtain nude photographs, reminding them of the possible dangers of sending such photographs.
In addition they partnered with the Nationwide Heart for Lacking and Exploited Youngsters to create a loose carrier known as “Take it Down,” which is supposed to assist sufferers of sextortion erase specific photographs of sufferers or get dangerous actors to prevent sharing them on-line. The instrument may also be accessed at https://takeitdown.ncmec.org.
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James Woods liked working, taking part in video games and joking along with his family and friends. (Circle of relatives handout)
The FBI describes sextortion as a prison act wherein an wrongdoer contacts a sufferer on-line and coerces the sufferer to ship specific photographs or movies in trade for both extra specific subject matter or cash. The FBI gained greater than 13,000 studies of on-line monetary sextortion involving no less than 12,600 sufferers between October 2021 and March 2023.
“I’m extra made up our minds to rot your existence than to make it a waste, a trash can, a disgrace, a dishonor, a hell, an actual crisis, a hell on earth…”
The Woods say their son was once a cheerful and proficient teen thinking about his faculty potentialities.
The Woods say their son was once a cheerful and proficient teen thinking about his faculty potentialities. (Circle of relatives handout)
“He was once pleasant, and he had air of mystery. He was once an athlete,” Tim Woods stated. “He liked video games, duration. He liked other folks, duration. He simply was once amusing to like. He favored to assist other folks always. He was once actually thoughtful and compassionate.”
Since their son’s demise, the Woods have began the James Woods Basis, which targets to offer protection to youngsters no longer simplest from sextortion but in addition “rape, molestation, harassment, cyberbullying and suicide,” Tamia stated.
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Since their son’s demise, the Woods have began the James Woods Basis, which targets to offer protection to youngsters no longer simplest from sextortion but in addition “rape, molestation, harassment, cyberbullying and suicide,” Tamia stated. (Circle of relatives handout)
“We’ve got come to determine that our adolescence are in a dire want of creating positive that we assist elevate them up. A large number of instances, they do not needless to say … we would like them to be held answerable for their errors, however by no means demise — by no means one thing so excessive,” Tamia defined.Â
“And we additionally train the children easy methods to acknowledge that they’re sufferers. We inspire them to talk up. And although we now have simplest been doing this for a 12 months and a part, we now have helped affect the children to talk up, which led to 2 captures of 2 pedophiles. We’ve got in truth stopped a lot of suicides and in addition helped youngsters right through sextortion, who have been actively being sextorted, as neatly.”
On the convention, the Woods spoke along South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Guffey, who misplaced his 17-year-old son to suicide after a sextortion rip-off on Instagram in July 2022.Â
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South Carolina State. Rep. Brandon Guffey encourages those that could also be the sufferer of sextortion to touch police. (Brandon Guffey)
Guffey sued Meta previous this 12 months after his son met a sextortionist posing as a lady at the photo-sharing app.
“Throughout the first 4 months of me taking workplace, we handed Gavin’s Legislation. And Gavin’s Legislation … fees as much as 15 years in jail should you goal a minor. And it is an extra 15 years if nice physically hurt happens or demise ends up in it,” Guffey informed Fox Information Virtual at CrimeCon.Â
“Along with that, we mandated that Gavin’s Legislation and sextortion learn in all colleges right through South Carolina. That was once step one.”
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Guffey additionally stated he desires youngsters to possess their “title, symbol and likeness” in the similar approach athletes accomplish that strangers cannot use their photographs towards them in extortion schemes, synthetic intelligence-generated pornography or different crimes on social media.
“And if we simply return and take a look at giant tobacco. … Step one was once simply caution labels at the packing containers. But Apple and Google have been permitting 13-year-olds to go into into those contracts to obtain apps with out a large caution at the best of it,” Guffey defined.Â
“I do not see how that is criminal, to begin with. However as soon as the ones apps are there, then they are permitting the kid intercourse abuse subject matter to switch thru different apps corresponding to Snap and Instagram. I have heard about stuff on Discord or even gaming platforms.”
Brandon Guffey (proper) has been exposing the risks of sextortion after his son, Gavin (2nd from proper), died by way of suicide closing 12 months. (Brandon Guffey)
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Guffey and the Woods have many not unusual targets, however an important at this time is to unfold consciousness concerning the life and proliferation of sextortion schemes on social media.
“I will be able to’t let you know what number of youngsters that experience known as or folks that experience known as simply because they heard me discuss or went and talked with their youngsters and came upon it was once happening,” Guffey stated. “And that’s the reason what makes me stay going. That is the gasoline to understand that I am in truth attaining other folks.”
