A 17-year-old boy died by suicide hours after being scammed. The FBI says it is part of a troubling increase in ‘sextortion’ instances.

Within hours, the 17-year-old, straight-A pupil and Boy Scout had died by suicide.

"Any person reached out to him pretending to be a woman, and so they started a conversation," his mom, Pauline Stuart, advised CNN, combating back tears as she described what occurred to her son days after she and Ryan had completed visiting several faculties he was considering attending after graduating high school.

The net conversation shortly grew intimate, and then turned felony.

The scammer -- posing as a young girl -- sent Ryan a nude picture and then requested Ryan to share an explicit image of himself in return. Instantly after Ryan shared an intimate photo of his personal, the cybercriminal demanded $5,000, threatening to make the photograph public and send it to Ryan's household and friends.

The San Jose, California, teen told the cybercriminal he could not pay the complete amount, and the demand was finally lowered to a fraction of the unique determine -- $150. However after paying the scammers from his school savings, Stuart stated, "They stored demanding more and more and placing plenty of continued pressure on him."

On the time, Stuart knew none of what her son was experiencing. She discovered the main points after law enforcement investigators reconstructed the events leading as much as his death.

She had said goodnight to Ryan at 10 p.m., and described him as her often comfortable son. By 2 a.m., he had been scammed, and brought his life. Ryan left behind a suicide notice describing how embarrassed he was for himself and the family.

"He actually, really thought in that time that there wasn't a method to get by if these pictures had been truly posted online," Pauline said. "His observe showed he was absolutely terrified. No child ought to need to be that scared."

Regulation enforcement calls the scam "sextortion," and investigators have seen an explosion in complaints from victims main the FBI to ramp up a campaign to warn dad and mom from coast to coast.

The bureau says there were over 18,000 sextortion-related complaints in 2021, with losses in extra of $13 million. The FBI says the use of child pornography by criminals to lure suspects also constitutes a severe crime.

The investigation into Final's case is ongoing, Stuart and the FBI tell CNN.

"To be a legal that specifically targets kids -- it's one of many extra deeper violations of trust I think in society," says FBI Supervisory Particular Agent Dan Costin, who leads a group of investigators working to counter crimes against kids.

Based on Costin, lots of the sextortion scams reported to the FBI are decided to be from criminals on the African continent and in Southeast Asia. Federal investigators are working with their law enforcement counterparts all over the world, Costin stated, to help identify and arrest perpetrators who are focusing on children on-line.

One problem for the FBI: many victims of sextortion do not report the incidents to legislation enforcement.

"The embarrassment piece of that is in all probability one of the bigger hurdles that the victims have to beat," mentioned Costin. "It may be rather a lot, particularly in that moment."

However investigators urge victims to quickly contact legislation enforcement, both online or at their local FBI discipline workplace.

Medical experts say there is a key cause why younger males are particularly weak to sextortion-related scams.

"Teen brains are still developing," said Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of adolescent drugs at Mass General in Boston. "So when one thing catastrophic happens, like a private picture is released to folks online, it is exhausting for them to look previous that moment and perceive that within the massive scheme of issues they will be capable of get by means of this."

Hadland mentioned there are steps mother and father can take to help safeguard their kids from online harm.

"Crucial factor that a mother or father should do with their teen is try to perceive what they're doing online," she mentioned. "You need to know after they're going surfing, who they're interacting with, what platforms they're utilizing. Are they being approached by people who they don't know, are they experiencing strain to share data or images?"

Hadland said it's also crucial that oldsters specifically warn teens of scams like sextortion, without shaming them.

"You need to make it clear that they'll discuss to you if they have carried out something, or they feel like they've made a mistake," he mentioned.

Ryan's mom agrees.

"It is advisable speak to your youngsters as a result of we have to make them aware of it," Stuart stated.

Still grieving the loss of her son, she is channeling her family's pain into motion, and honoring Ryan by talking out and telling his story. She hopes that doing so will help save lives.

"How may these individuals look at themselves in the mirror figuring out that $150 is more important than a child's life?" she says. "There is no other phrase however 'evil' for me that they care much more about cash than a child's life. I do not need anyone else to undergo what we did."