‘Sextortion’ scam linked to California teen’s suicide leads to 4 arrests in West Africa

Three years after a California teen killed himself as a result of being “sextorted” online, authorities have arrested four men in Ivory Coast for their roles in an international scheme that targeted thousands of victims around the globe, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ivorian law enforcement arrested Alfred Kassi, Oumarou Ouedraogo, Moussa Diaby and Oumar Cisse on criminal charges relating to the sextortion scheme, which involved people being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online, the Justice Department announced last week.

The scheme targeted people, including minors, throughout the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy. Among the victims was Ryan Last, a 17-year-old high school senior from San Jose.

Last, who planned to attend Washington State University, killed himself in February 2022, hours after being sextorted online by someone pretending to be a 20-year-old woman, authorities said. The teenager had paid $150 to prevent intimate images he had sent from being disseminated.

Evidence, which authorities did not disclose, ultimately led law enforcement to Kassi, an Ivorian citizen living in Ivory Coast. At the time of Kassi’s arrest on April 29, he allegedly still had the messages he sent to Last on his phone demanding payment in exchange for not disseminating Last’s photos, according to the Justice Department.

“We’re feeling grateful that [law enforcement officials] didn’t give up and they continued to work,” Pauline Stuart, Last’s mom, said about the recent arrests. “Unfortunately it will never bring Ryan back. It’s one of those double-edged swords. My son’s still gone, but I’m hoping that, with this arrest, it brings awareness and scares the scammers, because they kind of feel safe over in a foreign country. They don’t think they can be touched.”

“My son’s still gone, but I’m hoping that, with this arrest, it brings awareness and scares the scammers,” said Pauline Stuart, shown with her son Ryan.

(Courtesy of Pauline Stuart)

The investigation, involving U.S. and Ivorian law enforcement, also identified several alleged money laundering accomplices, including Ouedraogo, who authorities said helped Kassi move the money he received from the teenager. Ivorian law enforcement arrested Ouedraogo on April 25, according to the Justice Department.

Diaby and Cisse were allegedly part of Kassi’s alleged sextortion network and admitted to their own sextortion crimes, according to the Justice Department. A U.S.-based accomplice, Jonathan Kassi, who is not related to Alfred Kassi, was convicted in a California state court in 2023 and sentenced to 18 months in jail.

The government of Ivory Coast doesn’t extradite its own citizens, so those arrested will be prosecuted in their own country under Ivorian cybercrime statutes, according to the Justice Department.

In a 2022 video posted on the San Jose Police Department’s Facebook page, Stuart described her son as a straight-A student, who was planning to major in agricultural biotechnology. She said Last was “a very trusting person” who was catfished by a person who flirted and showed interest in him.

“This is one of the huge problems with social media,” Stuart said. “People can pretend to be anyone.”

According to CNN, the scammer sent Last a nude photo and then asked for one in return. The scammer then demanded $5,000, threatening to publicize the photo and send it to Last’s family and friends. The total was later dropped to $150, after Last said he couldn’t pay the full amount.

Stuart said that once her son sent the money, the scammers “continued to hound him.”

In a suicide note, Stuart told The Times, Last apologized for not being smart enough.

“He didn’t realize these people were taking advantage of him, and he was terrified of what it would do to us,” Stuart said.

Stuart said the scam unfolded despite the fact that they had parental controls on their son’s phone and apps. She urged parents to speak with their children so they felt comfortable coming to them about any mistake.

“We just need to make sure that our kids know you’re going to be there, they’re your everything,” Stuart said. “No mistake that we make is worth taking our lives.”

The FBI’s Sacramento office warned parents last year about the growing threat of sextortion.

From October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations received more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors, according to the FBI. The sextortion involved at least 12,600 victims — primarily boys — and resulted in at least 20 suicides.

The FBI separately said it saw an at least 20% increase in reporting of financially motivated sextortion incidents involving minors from October 2022 to March 2023, compared to the same period the year before, according to the agency.

“Our office, which covers 34 counties in California, has seen a significant increase in reported sextortion incidents and the majority of these involve financial sextortion,” Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office said in a 2024 news release.

“We urge victims to preserve all evidence and seek help quickly,” Ragan said. “Don’t delete any communication, even if it is embarrassing. We protect and support victims of sextortion, ensuring they are connected to the resources they need to recover.”