About this episode
The West African cybercriminals who call themselves the Yahoo Boys have perfected dozens of cons – including the infamous Nigerian Prince email scam. But recently, they've discovered something far more lucrative: the extortion of teenage boys. In just two years, sextortion cases targeting teens have exploded by 18,000 percent. The Yahoo Boys have made millions. And they've left a trail of devastation in their wake that has reached even the most remote communities. In a tiny Manitoba town, one family is still piecing their lives back together after their son became a victim of a deadly sextortion scam. Their story reveals how quickly a predator can weaponize shame – and how little stands between our kids and catastrophe. The platforms know about this crisis. Snapchat alone receives 10,000 reports of sextortion every month. Yet the scams continue, largely unchecked. So one man has decided to do something about it. Cyber analyst Paul Raffile has made it his mission to infiltrate the Yahoo Boys' networks, expose their methods, and bring them to justice – even when no one else will.