Boys across Canada are increasingly being blackmailed after sharing intimate images online. A CBC Marketplace investigation begins on P.E.I. with the tragic case of Harry Burke, who died after being targeted by an extortionist on Snapchat.

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Sextortion, a form of online blackmail involving the threat to share intimate images, is increasingly affecting Canadian youth, with families sharing tragic stories of loss. Reports to Canada's child exploitation tip line have surged, with 50 to 80 cases reported weekly, and 85% of victims being boys. Many scams originate from organized groups in West Africa, and while some perpetrators have been prosecuted internationally, families argue that current efforts are insufficient.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser has indicated that new criminal legislation is being developed to address child luring, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and online exploitation. Investigative journalists demonstrated how quickly scammers target teens on social media, with multiple attempts at extortion occurring within hours. Support resources are available for victims, but families and experts stress the urgent need for more robust protections and law enforcement tools.

Sextortion is on the rise, but is Canada doing enough?

Happy birthday dear Harry. Carl Berg and Barbie Lavers look back on happier times. Happy birthday to you and many more. Their 17-year-old son Harry died by suicide in April 2023, after he was sextorted. Those are his military boots that he was using when he was in the reserves. Hi, Harry Berg. He was a budding cadet with high hopes for his future. He said, I want to make Canada better. And this was the way he figured that he could do that. Carl recalls the day his world changed. Harry had come to me sometime in the afternoon to say he was talking to this girl around his age from Nova Scotia. And he showed me her picture and it all seemed very real. It wasn't. Harry was corresponding with a scammer who lured him into sending a nude photo. That evening, Harry came to me and he said, Dad, I screwed up. And I said, what do you mean? And he said, well, I shared pictures. And he said, they're looking for money. And I said, we can't send the money, Harry. I knew what extortion meant. I said, they'll just keep asking for more. The hounding didn't stop. His photo sent to other cadets. He was sitting in the garage. And I said, what are you doing? And he said, oh, I'm just writing some thoughts. He was writing his note. He was kind of the glue that held us all together. Ryan Cleland lost his son to sextortion too. Carson was 12 years old. Described as a caring kid who would stop to help out anyone. I had spoken with Carson about sextortion online and what to do if it happens. He just couldn't think past his fear. In October 2023, he started chatting with what he thought was a girl online. It would end up costing him his life. I only just found out that Carson actually went to the store that day and bought a gift card and sent it to them. So he did pay the scammer. $25,000. He's just a boy. And that's an adult problem. That's why they pick on the kids. Sextortion is on the rise. With Canada's child exploitation tip line, Cyber Tip, telling us it receives 50 to 80 reports a week. While girls are targeted too, 85% of victims are boys. In Canada, that includes Harry Burke and Carson Cleland. Daniel Lentz from Manitoba. William Doron from New Brunswick. And a 14-year-old boy from Surrey, B.C. There's no other scam that I think even compares to this. We know a lot of the financial sextortion scams right now are coming from West Africa, specifically Nigeria. Run by a network called the Yahoo Boys. We find a member willing to talk. We're not revealing who he is because he fears for his safety. He's in Lagos, a hotbed for cybercrime. So I just need something doing to survive. So you don't ever wonder if the person on the other end is suffering because of the scamming that you've done? Police internationally, including the RCMP, are trying to crack down on sextortion. Two Nigerian men were recently convicted in the U.S. And a man was sentenced in Lagos for sextorting the 14-year-old boy in Surrey. But is it enough? Families of the victims want the government to step up. We put that to Justice Minister Sean Fraser, who tells us new laws are on the way. What people should expect to see, in short order, is new criminal legislation that's going to address child luring, that's going to address non-consensual sharing of intimate images, of deep fakes, that's going to specifically address online sexploitation and extortion of kids, in addition to new tools that we want to give to law enforcement to prevent this crime. But for Carl, Barbie, and so many others facing the harsh reality of sextortion, change can't come soon enough. And Asha Tomlinson joins us now to talk a little more about some of the work her team at Marketplace did on this story. Oh, Asha, it is absolutely heartbreaking. And you actually went through the process of setting up fake accounts yourself, so to see what would happen. What happened? We wanted to test just how easy it is, right, for scammers to find kids on social media. So we created fake Instagram accounts to look like teen boys, the ideal target. And look, we didn't have to wait long before the direct messages started coming in. They looked like they were real from young girls, but in reality, based on our research, we know they're male scammers. The scam starts with friendly, flirty questions like, where are you from? How old are you? The chats turn sexual very quickly, and the pressure for a nude photo ramps up. Within 24 hours, seven separate accounts asked for nude photos. That's once every three and a half hours if you break it down even further. And a cybercrime expert who analyzed our results told us those numbers are shocking, and it proves how widespread and relentless this scam really is. It is so scary. And to think that your team was actually sextorted even though you never sent them any images. So how did that happen? Look, this was a surprise for our entire team. One scammer grabbed a headshot that we sent during messaging, altered it with a nude photo, sent it back to us, and tried to blackmail us. He demanded a $50 gift card online. When we didn't respond right away, he started bombarding us, calling us through the app, sending aggressive messages like, answer me right now, don't try me. He gave us a countdown clock, and he said, by one, if you don't pay me, I'm sending this out to all your family and friends, your entire network. And then there was another surprise. We spotted a Nigerian phone number. We think it popped up accidentally while we were messaging a scammer. We called that number, and just so you get a sense of the profile of some of these scammers, the guy who answered the phone sounded young. He said he couldn't talk long because his parents were home, and he said he scams because he needs the money. Unbelievable. All right, thank you so much for shedding some light on this very important topic. Really good to see you, Asha. You too, Louise. Thanks. There are resources you can turn to if you or anyone you know has been sextorted or is having thoughts of suicide. You can find CyberTip online or call or text the Suicide Crisis Helpline. That is 988 from anywhere in Canada. Or you can also call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868.

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