The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested 22 Nigerian nationals in connection with a global sextortion crackdown, codenamed Operation Artemis, aimed at tackling a disturbing surge in financially motivated sextortion crimes linked to teenage suicides.
The FBI, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria, launched the unprecedented operation in response to an alarming rise in sextortion-related suicides across the United States.
According to authorities, nearly half of those arrested were directly linked to victims who had taken their own lives.
“In coordination with multiple law enforcement partners, the FBI conducted Operation Artemis—a surge of resources and personnel to Nigeria to address the high rate of sextortion related suicides attributed to Nigerian perpetrators.
“As a result of Operation Artemis, FBI investigations led to the arrests of 22 Nigerian subjects connected to financially motivated sextortion schemes. Of those 22 subjects, approximately half were directly linked to victims who took their own lives,” the FBI said in a statement on its website.
After gaining trust, they coerced victims into sending compromising images, which were then used to extort money through threats of exposure. Payment was often demanded via gift cards, mobile payment services, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency. In many cases, the perpetrators continued to harass their victims regardless of whether payment was made, leaving victims feeling isolated, ashamed, and overwhelmed.
Operation Artemis investigations also led to the extradition of a Nigerian man earlier this year to face charges in the United States over the death of a South Carolina teenager.
